BREAKING: U.S. TELECOM’S PATRICK HALLEY JOINS UNPRECEDENTED PODCAST TO DISCUSS INDUSTRY TRACEBACK EFFORT AND CARRIER CALL BLOCKING

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Although you’ve probably never heard of him, he’s the head of one of the most effective anti-robocall task forces in the nation: the Industry Traceback Group–an outfit designed to get to the root of scam robocalls and shut them down at the source.

Patrick Halley is our guest on Unprecedented this week and he is the Sr. Vice-President of US Telecom–one of the most powerful trade organizations on the planet– that represents dozens of telecom players in the United States. US Telecom, in turn, created and runs the Industry Traceback Group–using tips from companies like YouMail and Nomorobo to identify scam calls and then implement traceback efforts to identify the point of entry for those calls into the US carrier networks. Its a tremendous program that has shown incredible success at getting to the real root of the robocall problem–the overseas call centers running the terrible scam calls we all detest.

halley

Patrick Halley

In the incredible VIDEO interview–which will be available here next week– Patrick walks us through how the traceback effort works and the brick-by-brick steps necessary to identify the source of scam calls. He also discusses the huge pressure on carriers to BLOCK calls–including potentially legal calls–and the steps legitimate callers can take to make sure their traffic is not improperly blocked or labeled as a scam.

We also discuss the murky limits of regulation impacting carriers and the strange and sudden shift in expectations that has some carriers feeling like they have been unfairly tasked with policing traffic on their network at their own peril. Historically carriers were never deemed to be responsible for illegal phone calls passing over their lines, but these days there is increasing governmental pressure on carriers to shut down illegal calls–even though no law or regulation appears to require carriers to act. Nonetheless, the DOJ and state AGs are now increasingly pursuing cases against carriers as “participants” in wire fraud rings for knowingly connecting fraudulent traffic–and using the work of the Industry Traceback Group to make their case.

But no interview with Patrick would be complete without a discussion of carrier call blocking efforts and what callers can do TODAY to increase their chances of having their traffic get through. To be sure Patrick and I discuss redress mechanisms to allow callers to have their concerns over blocked calls heard by the carriers short of litigation–we shouldn’t have to file a lawsuit to get calls connected–and the protections the carriers are seeking for improperly blocked calls.

It all makes for a fascinating overview of the regulatory state of the telecom industry that you simply can’t get anywhere else. TCPAWorld.com and Squire Patton Boggs are pleased and proud to provide this important and informative content that will be available here in just a few days. Stay tuned.

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Published by Eric J. Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

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