More FCC Acts Against Robocalls, Mitch Landrieu at Tuesday Event, Meta’s Growing VR Worlds

February 18, 2022 – Federal Communications Commission on Friday announced a new effort to combat illegal robocalls.

The formal investigatory partnership between state attorneys general and the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau adds the attorneys general from Vermont and Colorado to the group of states working together to stop robocalls and spoofing scams.

“Protecting consumers from robocall and spoofing scams is an everyday challenge for local, state, and federal law enforcement. By sharing information and closely cooperating on investigations, we can better protect consumers everywhere,” said agency Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

“Our enforcement partnerships with state attorneys general have already paid dividends and I know these new agreements will only further that success. I thank these state leaders for their cooperation and their dedication to enforcing strong consumer protection laws, and I appreciate their efforts to encourage their colleagues to join us on this effort.”

This announcement follows the FCC’s finding on Thursday that two voice providers failed to fully implement the robocall blocking standard referred to as STIR/SHAKEN.

Large providers were required to implement STIR/SHAKEN throughout the IP portions of their networks by June 30, 2021.

STIR/SHAKEN standards provide a common information sharing language between networks to verify caller ID information.

Mitch Landrieu to Join FCC Broadband Equity Event

Mitch Landrieu, former mayor of New Orleans and White House senior advisor and infrastructure implementation coordinator, will speak at a broadband equity event next Tuesday.

The “Connecting Black Communities: Federal, State, and Local Strategies for Closing the Digital Divide” event will convene leaders from all levels of government highlight the impact of the digital divide on Black communities and discuss how households will benefit from the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program.

The event hosted by FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will take place at 11 a.m. on February 22, 2022.

It will also feature members of Congress, administration officials, and state and local leaders from New York, Wisconsin, Chicago and Augusta, Georgia.

These panelists include Rosenworcel, Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington, as well as Brian Benjamin, New York’s Lieutenant Governor and Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Meta’s social VR platform announces 300,000 users

Meta, formerly Facebook, announced Thursday that its Horizon Worlds platform grew to 300,000 users.

Featured as part of this year’s group of Superbowl commercials, Meta’s Quest2 virtual reality headset is at the center of the company’s future plans for the Metaverse. The virtual reality headset allows users to virtually meet friends, play games, and enjoy content.

Horizon Worlds is a platform on the headset that allows players to interact with friends and build a virtual world together. Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg told investors during a Q4 earnings call that the company plans to launch a mobile version of Horizon worlds to bring the platform to consumers that don’t own a virtual reality device.

Despite the platform’s apparent success, the company is working on methods of reducing abuse of Horizon worlds. The company recently announced a “personal boundary” system to its virtual reality experiences, creating an invisible virtual barrier around avatars, preventing other people from getting too close.

The updates come after at least one beta user complained that their avatar had been groped by a stranger. Experts on virtual spaces are also concerned about children’s ability to access Facebook’s metaverse and the potential for predatory behavior by adults. Although children are not allowed on Horizon Worlds, reviews of the platform show that the virtual experience attracts children. Advocacy groups aimed at protecting children say newer platforms also attract adults seeking to groom kids.