Robocallers Use Out-of-State Loopholes to Evade Strict California Regulations

Robocalls, even from a company or political platform that you feel connected to, can be annoying at the best of times. Recently, there was a controversial legal battle centering around freedom of speech, the conclusion of which was that the state of Montana technically has the legal right to pass a law banning robocalls, even those of a political nature. At the very least, this decision could help Montanans to crack down and have specific rules regarding such calls, in an attempt to reduce the number, if not do away with them altogether. Interestingly enough, discovers David Lazarus in his L.A. Times article, California has some pretty strict laws regarding robocallers. It just so happens that nobody follows them.

Politicians in California have found loopholes to get around the laws regarding robocallers. According to the California Public Utilities Code, every robocall within California is required to begin with a live person and the name, phone number, and address of the organization making the call. Then, the live operator has to ask permission and get consent before playing the pre-recorded message. Only if every single one of those criteria is met is the robocall legally permissible. Of course, because most people are so accustomed to illegal robocalls, a call meeting those criteria tends to resemble telemarketing more than robocalling, which, of course, has its own set of negative responses.

Californian homes get constant robocalls from the beginning of election season all the way to election day. The way that most get away with the robocalls without technically breaking state law is by designing the calls to originate outside of the state. If the robocall is coming from a computer server in another state, technically it doesn't require a live operator or affirmative consent or really any other regulations before playing the message. Of course, even though this strategy avoids breaking state laws, it may be breaking federal laws, although that doesn't stop much. According to federal law, robocallers can't call cell phones (again, something that still happens all too often), but the federal policy has no restriction on robocalls to landlines. Even though many people have given up their landlines over the years, there are still several million throughout the country that can be targeted.

As you can see, there are restrictions on when and how a political representative can place robocalls. However, those regulations can be easily side-stepped. There is a potential solution, though. Because the callers can avoid state regulations by making the calls from another state, this can be prevented by passing a regulation that prohibits political robocalls from being placed out of state. If the political groups have to place their calls from in state, they will be forced to follow the state regulations, which would reduce annoyance and frustration among many recipients. Of course, this would severely limit the scope of a political group's reach, but at least they would be able to better target voters interested in their specific platform.

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Comcast Replacing Cable Customers With Internet Customers

Especially in recent years, many people have been looking for clever ways to cut some of their higher utilities costs. For some, that means taking shorter showers or keeping the air conditioner off during the hotter months. Many others have found that cable is a pretty substantial monthly expense that they can go without relatively easily. "Cutting the cord," as it's commonly referred to, can save consumers well over $100 per month, depending on the package of channels they had. According to Gerry Smith's L.A. Times article, they opt instead to use their internet connections, paired with streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, to watch their favorite shows.

Comcast Inc. is just one of the many cable providers that have suffered losses to their bottom line due to the cord-cutting frenzy sweeping the nation. However, on the other hand, Comcast has also observed that as much as people are removing cable, they are getting more new customers for their internet plans. This quarter, the number of cable customers dropped yet again, but an additional 350,000 customers bought broadband internet service, which helped to balance out Comcast's profits.

People aren't only getting more into internet because of its ability to replace their cable entertainment. In the modern age, it is incredibly difficult to have a job, attend school, or do pretty much anything else without a reliable internet connection. Everything these days is online, so Comcast and companies like it are naturally going to keep getting new customers and are going to be getting demands from their customers for increased internet speeds. Some of their new features, including personalized home Wi-Fi networks, have led hundreds of thousands of new users to try out their internet connections.

Some cable giants are offering cheaper cable packages with fewer channels, which is attractive to some users. To many others, paying anything for any amount of cable is simply too much, because they can get access to anything they want to watch via the internet. Why pay more for something you can get elsewhere for less? Comcast's profits went up this year due to the influx of internet customers, and they expect to increase their shareholders' dividends by around 20% in 2018, while increasing stock value at the same time.

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Viewers Dropping Cable for Cheaper Over-the-Air Options

5/10/15 - As many remember quite well, television of the mid-1900s consisted of a few channels for each of the major broadcasting stations: ABC, CBS, and NBC, among some others. Mainly due to the advent of cable and satellite television providers, modern television has hundreds of channels with content ranging from news to information to entertainment. Television has grown exponentially, but the downside of having so many channels is that prices have skyrocketed. Stephen Battaglio, in his L.A. Times article, discusses a recent phenomenon by which many consumers, unable to afford high-priced television packages, have “cut the cord” and gone back to the television choices provided by bunny-ear antennas.

Watchers of recent years have developed their own system by which they are able to watch all of their favorite shows at a fraction of the price for cable. They use “over-the-air” antennas to watch shows on FOX, CBS, ABC, and NBC for free, and use internet streaming programs like HBO Go, Hulu, and Netflix to watch a variety of other content. Since internet is already a necessity in most homes, this method cuts costs significantly.

Already, about 12.3 million homes rely only on over-the-air broadcasting for their television needs. While this is only 11% of total television users, this trend is a warning signal for cable and satellite providers. As television subscriptions go down, internet usage increases dramatically. Battaglio's sources suggest that cable companies recognize this fact and use it to their advantage. Many such companies are beginning to offer broadband internet service to serve as an alternative to customers while more and more households drop television service.

Price seems to be the big issue for most television watchers. Since cable companies are unable or unwilling to offer prices comparable to those of internet providers, the decision is made easy for many consumers. TV-Internet bundles seem to be the way of the future, but this could lead to problems regarding the FCC's ruling about net neutrality. With the new rules, internet providers are forced to give the same internet speeds and connectivity to all users. Unfortunately, this could take away much of the competitiveness between internet providers and reduce their ability to make economically effective partnerships with television providers.

Internet-based television will likely become more common in years to come, as it is the most economically feasible option for most families. What us the point of spending more money to get the same programs? Battaglio predicts that many people will begin to transfer over as they realize that having a cable or satellite connection is not the only way to access their favorite shows.

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