-Outside the Box Thinking to Stop Robocalls

This is a bit outside the box thinking but instead of using taxpayer funds to initiate any program to stop robocalls, I would first make it the responsibility of telephone companies to protect their phone numbers from being stolen or cloned. Phone companies own the numbers that are being cloned and thus, should have a vested interest in protecting their property from theft. Requiring phone companies to develop their own technology to make sure their numbers are not being stolen, cloned or used illegally would stop robocallers in their tracks ... and at the source of the phone numbers they are cloning. If a company had a large number of thefts from its warehouse and the stolen items were used illegally, you bet the feds would come in and crack down on that company. So, what's the difference? Make Ma Bell ... and all the Baby Bells ... put their heads together to work out this problem on their own. Give them a timetable to figure out how they are going to stop phone number cloning and hold them to a strict deadline for making these calls stop. Then impose fines on the phone companies that don't comply. Make Big Business -- which owns these cloned phone numbers and is lax about the way they are used --- find a solution to this problem. It shouldn't be up to consumers. We've already done our part. Now it's time for Ma Bell to step up to bat.