David Frankel is a man on a mission against robocalls

International differences in robocalls

• Multiple commenters from Germany, UK, Ireland, and Czechia report few or no robocalls; some Germans say “almost never,” others say “daily,” so experience is mixed.
• Explanations offered:
  • Germany bans unsolicited commercial calls and imposes heavy fines.
  • In much of Europe, the caller pays mobile termination fees, making mass spam expensive.
  • In the U.S., historically the receiver paid airtime and now most plans are “unlimited,” so it’s effectively free to spam.
  • English’s reach makes broad-based scams more efficient; some note “niche” languages are less targeted, though German’s “niche” status is disputed.

Regulation, capture, and telco incentives

• Several posts argue FCC regulatory capture and telco lobbying delayed or weakened action.
• Telcos earn from both sides of a spam call (originator and recipient/termination), so high volume can be profitable.
• Some believe carriers could market “spam-free” service and win customers, but an oligopoly and political robocall use reduce incentives.

Technical measures and their limits

• STIR/SHAKEN is seen as only partially effective:
  • Needs end-to-end IP; legacy TDM hops strip information.
  • Robocallers can still get calls signed via their originating providers.
  • Devices may show attestation levels, but this is limited in practice.
• Caller-ID spoofing remains rampant; blocking by area code is often defeated.

User-level defenses and behaviors

• Common strategies:
  • Silence unknown callers, use focus modes, and whitelist only close contacts.
  • Rely on carrier and handset spam filters; some report near-zero spam as a result.
  • Use call-screening/AI secretary features (e.g., “Call Screen”) or apps that block/decoy spammers.
  • Landline “CAPTCHA” systems that require pressing a random digit reportedly eliminate most robocalls.

Social and psychological impacts

• Many now treat unsolicited calls as inherently suspect and prefer asynchronous text/email.
• Some view phone calls as an intrusive interruption; others defend voice as richer and more accessible communication.
• Elderly people are singled out as heavily victimized; anecdotes of families losing large sums underscore that the phone system is “entirely broken” for them.

Proposed systemic fixes

• Ideas include:
  • Making callers pay for the full path of a call, with per-call or per-report microcharges.
  • Allowing users to block by country, carrier, or any call with non-domestic hops.
  • Building a new, authenticated, certificate-based telephony system over existing infrastructure.
• Feasibility is questioned due to SIP/email gateways, legacy infrastructure, business incentives, and political will.