Federal Communications Commission FCC 18-58
STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL
Re: Adrian Abramovich, Marketing Leaders, Inc. and Marketing Leaders Inc., File No. EB-TCD-15-
00020488, Forfeiture Order
If you think the number of robocalls you receive is going up, you’re right.  We’re drowning in 
them.  Last month there were 3.4 billion robocalls nationwide.  That’s one third more robocalls than 
during the same month last year.  This is insane.
Today the FCC adopts a forfeiture order imposing a penalty on one operation that made tens of 
millions of robocalls two years ago.  I support it.  But let’s be honest: Going after a single bad actor is like 
emptying the ocean with a teaspoon—and right now we’re all wet.  
So what should we be doing?  
First, two months ago, the courts overturned FCC rules adopted in 2015 that were designed to 
prevent robocalls.  We need to respond—stat.  That means revisiting the definition of autodialers and 
identifying just how they can be used to call millions of consumers.  It could also mean revisiting just 
how consumers can revoke consent they may have given previously to companies to make calls.  
Second, we need to get our house in order.  There are 20 outstanding petitions before the FCC 
that were filed in the wake of the 2015 rules.  They ask for everything from exemptions for mortgage 
lenders, insurance companies, and student loan servicing.  They seek technical limitations for voicemail 
and text messaging.  Some want retroactive waivers in order to presume consumer consent for whole 
classes of robocalls.  These petitions are gathering regulatory dust.  They deserve a response.  
Third, pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the FCC adopted rules to place reasonable 
limits on robocalls when it comes to government debt.  But these rules have mysteriously disappeared.  
Check the Code of Federal Regulations, they are nowhere to be found.  These missing policies belong on 
the books.    
Fourth, it has been almost two years since the Robocall Strike Force identified SHAKEN/STIR as 
a call authentication technology that can reduce robocalls.  In the intervening time, Canada went ahead 
and set a 2019 deadline to put this technology in place.  We should be doing the same.  Our robocall 
resistance deserves to be every bit as strong as our neighbors to the north.       
I look forward to working with my colleagues to make this happen and I appreciate that the 
Chairman has stated that this is a top priority for the FCC.  More importantly, I look forward to doing 
more than taking a single enforcement action to stop this rising tide of nuisance calls—and when we do so 
I want us to use every tool we’ve got.