Stopping robocalls is more about controlling access to the telephone network than anything else. How "the telephone network" is defined is a good question.
In essence, all calls to or initiated within the US are allowed to be routed to the dialed destination telephone number once the call is dialed.
The reason robocalls work is very simple: Low cost per call--so it is profitable to make a very large number of cheap calls to make a few scores and make a profit.
Take away the extremely low cost of making robocalls, and they will stop being made. It is not worth the upfront cash cost to the caller.
How the system would work:
Every telephone number gets a non-cash "credit" of (say 25-cents) every month (cell, wired, or Internet phone number).
Every outgoing call costs (say) 0.1-cents (ten calls for a penny), so 250 "free" calls per month for everyone (call length is irrelevant). Number of outgoing calls is flexible and can be adjusted.
If need more, just ask for another 25-cent "outgoing call" credit from the carrier (free).
Phone companies can adjust the non-cash credit based on call history--so it is easy to find the ones supporting robocallers.
Internet and cell phone calls--same rules and fees. There are a limited number of carriers, so it is not a big issue for them to implement it.
Anyone calling from outside the US already hits a US exchange of some sort when the call enters the US, so the exchange can credit and charge the same limited fee per incoming call per line.
Regardless of how a call is placed, it must enter or be in the US. If it comes in via an Internet call, the carrier will charge for it (because they know the real origin of the call--which is part of their system). If it comes in via a landline, that carrier will charge for it. If it comes in via a cell phone, that carrier will charge for it.
Phone number spoofing does not work because the origin carrier (the phone company in which the call originated) knows the real source of the call and charges that number for the call--because the carrier has to pay the US for that call.
The only way around this would be if someone overseas was able to get a very large number of local telephone numbers and use them to access the US (i.e. calling 250 times on one number, dropping it for a month, going to the next number for 250 calls, etc). That gets expensive very fast for the robocaller--and it is an ongoing cash cost that could easily run into 5-6-7+ figures.
Routing calls through multiple foreign Internet exchanges could be used to try to disguise the origin phone number/location--but the same problem would apply to all calls made regardless of where it originated. The same origin number could only be used 250 times before it would have to be changed. And it would be fairly easy to identify robocalls because of the pattern they use (same numbers used--even if fake). A call to the US costs 0.1-cents per call regardless of origin. Internet phone companies will quickly learn to identify and shut down exploits that cost them money.
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