The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in a recent press release that it has filed a lawsuit to stop a supplier of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) from sending millions of illegal robocalls over its network to consumers nationwide after receiving several warnings to discontinue the practice.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed the case on behalf of the FTC against XCast Labs Inc. in the Central District of California, the release said.
“XCast Labs played a key role in helping telemarketers flood homes with unlawful robocalls, including robocalls impersonating the Social Security Administration,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Protection, said in the release. “VoIP providers like XCast Labs that bury their heads in the sand when their customers use their services to break the law can expect to hear from the FTC.”
Based in Los Angeles, XCast Labs provides VoIP technology nationwide, including services that enable its clients to place and receive telephone calls over the internet, including robocalls that play a prerecorded message. The FTC noted in its release that the services offered by companies like XCast Labs often are tapped by telemarketers to transfer calls that include illegal robocalls.
The FTC issued warning letters to XCast Labs and a number of similar companies offering VoIP service, informing them that assisting in making unlawful robocalls was against the law, the release said. The commission also stated that many of the alleged robocalls were part of an effort to generate telemarketing leads.
Additionally, XCast Labs was the target of a number of traceback requests from the Industry Traceback Group of USTelecom, the release said. Those requests focused on calls allegedly made unlawfully as well as requests from authorities that zeroed in on alleged illegal activity over the company’s network.
The FTC alleges that XCast Labs continued the practice of sending the illegal robocalls to consumers even after it had received multiple warnings to stop the practice, the release said.
