Stats show currently 29% of calls are spam and by 2019 it will reach 45%. These numbers are depressing. We have all felt the annoyance of spam calls. They waste our time, distract us from important activities, and disrupt our peace.
We need technical, legislative, and liability controls. Because we have our phones with us all the time, calls are very disruptive. Without enforcement, legislative controls are not working as intended.
Technology solutions have been improving but are still greatly lacking. How about the ability to sue vendors who call when you are on a Do-Not-Call list, or for those who use or distribute your data without your explicit permission? I say put the lawyers in play.
Without tension in the system, fraudsters, criminals, and unethical marketeers will continue to abuse the communications systems and target people’s phones. The various attorney generals don’t have enough time or resources to pursue most of the offenders, which makes for a poor deterrent.
However, if we allow individuals to sue through their own attorney, we then bring to bear a tremendous pool of assets that will grow with the opportunity. Those who are targeted or victimized can employ the lawyers who will doggedly pursue the violators and hit them where they feel it the most, in civil lawsuits that can also inflict punitive damages for egregious repeat offenders. This would give the victims a path for remedy as well as removing most of the burden from the attorney general’s office, who can then focus on the organized criminal elements.
I say we turn loose the litigation attorneys and let them ride a wave of lawsuits to send a message and siphon money from these unwanted telemarketing groups. It is not a perfect solution, but the best path forward to address a growing problem.