Federal Communications Commission	FCC 19-135

STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL

Re:	Kenneth Moser dba Marketing Support Systems, File No.: EB-TCD-00028267, Notice of 
Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (December 12, 2019)

The phone rings.  On the line is someone offering a fabulous cruise or a once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunity.  Or maybe it’s an agent from the Internal Revenue Service with the threatening news of an imminent lawsuit.  They’re robocalls.  And they are totally out of control.  
At the start of this Administration, consumers received roughly 2 billion robocalls a month.  They now average between 5 and 6 billion a month.  This is crazy.  Whatever we are doing to stem the tide of these calls is simply not working.  Those numbers show with perfect clarity we need to do more.  
It is against this background that today the Federal Communications Commission seeks to enforce its rules and help stop the deluge of robocalls.  In the instant decision, we have a particularly ugly set of facts.  Kenneth Moser was a telemarketer who launched an extensive robocalling campaign.  It spoofed the number of his business rival and sent out calls featuring allegations of sexual assault involving a political candidate.  
In response, we propose a $9.99 million fine to penalize him for this robocalling because it violates the law.  This is good because enforcement or our rules designed to prevent robocalls matters.
But it is not enough.  Because everyone should save the accolades for when we crush these calls and collect.  And on that score, we have work to do.  Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal found that of the over $208 million in fines this agency had assessed on those responsible for robocalls, it had collected—wait for it—just $6,790.  That’s embarrassing.  
In fact, it has gotten so bad that Congress has stepped in with legislative efforts to improve coordination across the government and make it possible for this agency to collect on its enforcement fines.  We need it.  Because without it our action today is not especially meaningful and—let’s be honest—will not stop these nuisance calls from continuing to grow.