The Justice Department has struck a deal with telecommunications provider XCast Labs Inc. (XCast), which has been buried under allegations of enabling illegal telemarketing calls. According to a Justice Department statement, XCast is now bound by a court order to play by the rules or pay up a whopping $10 million fine that's been put on ice due to the company's claimed financial duress.
Agreeing to a stipulated order from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the VoIP service provider is prohibited from further TSR breaches, coupled with a mandate to sniff out potential illegal telemarketing through stricter customer and call transmission screening. Before being caught out, XCast's services acted as a megaphone, making billions of illegal robocalls throughout the nation. Some of these calls, masquerading behind the guise of government agencies—a fact found to be concerning when uncovered by their investigation—delivered unsolicited marketing messages to Americans. Many calls landing in the laps of those who explicitly opted out via the National Do Not Call Registry.
In a show of force against the nuisance of illegal robocalls, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, leader of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, professed robust enforcement of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. "Today's order is another example of the Justice Department's efforts to protect American consumers from illegal robocalls and to stop telecommunications providers from enabling those calls," Boynton affirmed.
It seems fairness in telecommunication is on the federal watchdog's agenda, as the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection Director, Samuel Levine, also voiced condemnation. Having turned a deaf ear to blatant misuse, XCast’s inaction in the face of warnings that its services were being exploited by scammers drew ire from regulatory authorities. "XCast was warned several times that illegal robocallers were using its services and did nothing," Levine said as if they were handing the robocallers a megaphone to shout directly into the ears of the American people, unsubscribed or not.
The team that brought the case to a close includes staffers from the Consumer Protection Branch of the Civil Division, such as Trial Attorney Zachary Dietert and Assistant Director Rachael Doud, and the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, clearly illustrating a combined front in the ongoing battle against intrusive and deceptive marketing practices.
