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When the federal do-not-call list was launched in 2003, delighted Americans added their phone numbers to the list en masse. For a while, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC (News - Alert)) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were hot on a crusade to stop unwanted telemarketing calls, the incessant ringing of the telephone stopped. In those days, far fewer people relied on mobile phones as their primary mode of communication, so they weren’t on telemarketers’ hot lists yet.

Little by little, the calls began creeping back. Charities, market researchers and politicians were exempt from the rules, and loopholes were taken advantage of. With the advent of widespread voice over IP (VoIP) technology and software-as-a-service dialers, it became easy to initiate sales calls from places like India or the Philippines and “spoof” numbers to avoid getting caught. (Who in the U.S. hasn’t been called by “Rachel of Cardholder Services?”)

Some politicians are beginning to pay attention to the scourge of illegal telemarketing once again. Jackie Speier, a U.S. Representative for California's 14th Congressional district, recently spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the newest tactic for illegal telemarketers: robocalls. During a recent bout of the flu, Speier tried in vain to rest while the robocalls poured in. She believes that it's the job of telecom companies, not consumers, to do something about the problem.

"It's personal to me, and it's personal to the 221 million people who've put their names on the do-not-call list and are tired of getting robocalls all day and all night," Speier told the LA Times’ David Lazarus.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has also said publicly that phone companies need to do more, and provide blocking technologies for phone subscribers, whether landline or mobile. Schumer told the New York Daily News last month that he wants the Federal Trade Commission to pressure carriers to offer robocall-blocking technology.

“The ‘Game of Phones’ with robocalls has gone on far too long,” Schumer said at a recent press conference. “Whether it’s mortgage companies, credit card firms or, even worse, scammers, telephone companies should provide their customers with access to robocall-blocking technology that will eliminate future nuisance,” he said.

Schumer said it should be easy for phone companies to roll out robocall-killing technology that works much like an e-mail spam box and filters out robocalls and other unwanted phone calls.

Telecom companies have been historically reluctant to take any concrete steps to end the robocalling problem, perhaps in fear of alienating relationships with their enterprise customers, or out of fear of abridging free speech. Last year, the FCC (News - Alert) issued a clarifying statement telling telecom companies that they are legally allowed to provide robocall-blocking service to customers who request it in order to take back control of their phones. Prior to the clarification, many telecom companies claimed that federal law and FCC regulations required them to deliver every call and specifically prohibit them from blocking any calls, even those consumers don't want.