> The dangerous issue is that if a spam operator has 33% legit traffic, do you kill the spam operator and the good traffic with it, or what?
You are implying that "you" means the telco or FCC decides on behalf of "everyone." That is not the correct viewpoint. If the telcos are the common carrier, they dont get to decide. I am the customer; I get to decide. Problem solved. No additional regulation or debate is needed. This isn't hard.
If the spam calls have spoofed source numbers, the provider should be within their rights to refuse the traffic regardless of common carrier status.
I am the customer and I would love to see the data of which providers _originated_ each call that I'm about to answer. That would make it trivial to set rules about which ones don't even ring. But until I can have that data, I wish they'd just drop the obvious junk.
>I am the customer and I would love to see the data of which providers _originated_ each call that I'm about to answer.
The telcos have this information, but they only usually relay the CallerID (which is user-specified, ie "spoofable") to the end user. ANI, RPID, and now SHAKEN/STIR information which does identify the origin and origin carrier are simply not passed to end users to do anything with, or at least I have not been able to get them to do it despite having capable interfaces.
> I am the customer; I get to decide. Problem solved.
If only we actually had that ability. The best mechanism available to me is what I do: if I get a call from a number that isn't in my phone book, I don't answer it.
"We" do, if people would ask properly for it instead of trying instead to break the customer/common carrier contract.
The carriers withhold information from customers that is useful to determine the nature of traffic and whether it should be accepted or rejected. The amount of metadata that accompanies a modern phone call is substantial, and the carrier typically relays only ONE FIELD to the customer.
Customers should demand access to all call/circuit/packet metadata that is necessary or useful to implement their own traffic policy. To the average person, I can see why it might seem that the carriers appear to be ideally suited to police this problem, but the correct way for them to do it without violating their obligations as a common carrier is to empower their customers with the information and the tools to do it on their own.
You are implying that "you" means the telco or FCC decides on behalf of "everyone." That is not the correct viewpoint. If the telcos are the common carrier, they dont get to decide. I am the customer; I get to decide. Problem solved. No additional regulation or debate is needed. This isn't hard.