On November 16, the FCC approved new rules allowing phone companies to proactively block illegal robocalls originating from certain types of phone numbers.

Pursuant to the report and order released on November 17, providers may block calls that: (i) are made from telephone numbers that are not designed to make outgoing calls; (ii) originate from telephone numbers listed on a subscriber’s “do not originate” list; or (iii) originate from telephone numbers with non-existent area codes, no provider assignment, or that are not currently in use. The FCC is seeking public comments from phone service providers by January 23, 2018, to minimize the possibility of blocking “lawful calls” by establishing procedures for identifying and fixing erroneous blocks.