QuietNet

QuietNet would consist of a network distributed database housing telephone numbers as reported by caller ID and other routing information provided by telephone companies. When a robocall is received by phone customer, whether traditional landline or mobile service, the receiver may enter a keypad code such as "##999" (or any code universally agreed upon and/or imposed by the FTC and the phone companies so long as there is one code for this functionality) to flag the call as being a robocall. The caller's reported caller ID information along with actual routing information is then recorded in QuietNet's database, or if already present, has an additional "report" entry added to the database.

When a certain non-zero number of reports have been recorded within a set period of time, the caller is then blocked automatically at the telephone service providers rather than at the consumer's handset.

Caller ID information and call routing information is recorded in the database as under the Bush Administration, it became legal to use caller ID spoofing devices to use alternate or even no caller ID information when initiating calls by businesses. Telephone service routing information is likely to provide more accurate information, but caller ID information is not useless, and could provide evidence of wrongdoing.

The infraction system would essentially use a deteriorating histogram to allow innocent and mistaken parties or "repentant" guilty parties to correct their behavior. The blocking threshold should be high enough that consumers should and could never intentionally or accidentally block other consumers via this system; blocking normal telephone harassment from one individual to another is outside the scope of this plan, and should continue to fall upon local, national, and/or international law enforcement and other call blocking technologies.

The QuietNet database would be based upon a secure peer to peer network to minimize downtime, and prevent denial of service and distributed denial of service retaliatory attacks.

The telephone service providers would be required to participate in developing and implementing the code response technology, reporting flagged calls, and blocking future calls from parties exceeding the robocall infraction threshold.

The FTC would need to educate consumers regarding the report code and its proper use. The FTC would also have the ability to unilaterally add records to the QuietNet database for immediate blocking, and remove violators from the block list. Law enforcement agencies, emergency services such as FEMA, and evacuation calls are exempt from blocking.