Call Authorization Service

Technology makes it possible for phone calls to be made to thousands of phone numbers very quickly (robocalls). The same technology can be beneficial or harmful depending how it is used. For example, authorities can use Reverse-911 calls to distribute vital information quickly to a large number of people in an emergency situation. Unscrupulous companies can use this same technology to mass market their products to consumers. Currently, the consumer has little protection against these companies who are breaking the law. This paper proposes a system which will identify and eliminate robocalls (and other illegal unsolicited calls) - called the Call Authorization Service (CAS). Furthermore, this paper specifies how the CAS could be used by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate these types of calls and ultimately hold the companies which are making the illegal calls accountable while protecting the companies that use this activity to benefit society.