EcMA Seeks Balance in FCC Regulations
The Ecommerce Marketers Alliance has submitted comments to the FCC in response to a proposed rulemaking on how to combat illegal robocalls and spam text messages. While EcMA shares the FCC's goal of protecting consumers, we caution against overly broad regulations that could have unintended consequences for legitimate businesses.
EcMA's Concerns
Blocking Should Be a Last Resort: EcMA argues that the current industry efforts focused on identifying and blocking suspicious traffic at its origin are sufficient. The current rules require the terminating wireless carriers to block traffic upon notice from the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau of unlawful traffic. Those carriers and others in the ecosystem also block traffic currently based on a variety of indicators that the traffic is spam. Expanding mandatory blocking to other parts of the mobile ecossytem is unwarranted at this time and could needlessly create confusion and disrupt communications between legitimate businesses and their customers.
Content and Competitve Neutrality Principles: EcMA emphasizes the importance of maintaining industry-led practices that have reduced spam and cautioned against unintended consequences. CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices, which require consumer opt-in and prohibit or require age-gating for certain content (sexually-explicit, hate speech, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco), have been instrumental in preserving texting as a trusted communications channel. EcMA expressed concern that eroding these standards could open the door to an influx of unwanted messages.
Industry Weighs In
Many other commenters echoed EcMA's concerns. A wide range of businesses and organizations highlighted the importance of:
Prioritizing Collaboration: Industry leaders stressed that collaborative efforts focused on identifying bad actors is a more effective approach than placing the onus on legitimate businesses.
Transparency and Fairness: Several comments called for clearer rules and a more transparent system for handling blocked messages. Additionally, many expressed concerns that proposed regulations would disproportionately burden small businesses.
Prevening Spam: Business and consumer groups alike emphasized the importance of maintaining consumer protections and stoping spam traffic in order to ensure that spam and scam texts did not become more prevalent.
The Road Ahead
The FCC is currently reviewing the comments submitted in response to their proposed rulemaking. EcMA's emphasis on protecting legitimate business communications while maintaining robust consumer protections reflects the general sentiment of the industry.
It will be important to continue advocating for a balanced approach that safeguards consumers from unwanted messages while allowing businesses to connect with their customers through this valuable communication channel.
