Attorney generals from around the nation are asking phone companies to help customers block robocalls and unwanted telemarketers, but Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is not one of them.
Two years ago, telephone company executives told a congressional committee they lacked the legal authority to block calls from going through. Last year, attorney generals from across the nation, including Arizona's Tom Horne, asked the Federal Communications Commission for clarification. Last month, the FCC responded there's no legal impediment to call-blocking technology.
This week, 45 attorney generals wrote to five major phone companies asking them to make that service available, but Brnovich spokesman Ryan Anderson said it would be inappropriate for his boss to weigh in.
“For us, it was a question of this office, whether or not it was the place of attorney general to tell otherwise law-abiding businesses what products or services they should or should not be offering,” Anderson said.
The other 45 attorney generals apparently didn't share that sentiment, writing that while they try to stop robocalls, “the better solution is to stop intrusive calls before they ever reach the consumer.”
Anderson acknowledged that the attorney generals were not trying to mandate anything, but simply urging the phone companies to make call-blocking available. However, he said Brnovich believes even that is inappropriate.
“While it is simply urging, there is something behind the issues in which attorneys general choose to engage to, even if it isn't something that is a binding legal action,” Anderson said.