First, here is the headline, as given in The Hacker News, but which could have been copied from a dozen other outlets.
DOJ Slams XCast with $10 Million Fine Over Massive Illegal Robocall Operation
Now, here is the key sentence in the official press release that clarifies just how hard the US Department of Justice (DOJ) ‘slammed’ comms provider XCast Labs.
The order also imposes a $10 million civil penalty judgment, which is suspended based on XCast’s inability to pay.
So once again, the notion of enforcing laws that prohibit illegal robocalls is rendered hollow by the DOJ failing to secure any actual punishment for the guilty party. What is the point of calculating all these huge theoretical fines if the DOJ then concludes that nobody can afford to pay even a penny as a consequence?
The Department of Justice is not alone in rationalizing the systemic failure to enforce robocall laws. This is how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the people tasked with protecting consumers, tried to spin the same feeble settlement.
XCast Labs Will Be Banned from Supporting Illegal Telemarketing Practices to Settle FTC Charges It Assisted and Facilitated in Sending Hundreds of Millions of Illegal Robocalls
American lawyers should be castigated for pretending they can ‘ban’ companies from doing things that were already against the law. What is the point of the law if breaking the law only results in a ban on breaking the same law? And if XCast cannot afford to pay a USD10mn fine for breaking the law, how are they going to afford an even bigger penalty that would have to be calculated if they keep doing the things they have been banned from doing?
The FTC and DOJ are so lackadaisical about numbers that they cannot even agree on the basics of the illegality they are supposed to be deterring. The next quote is from the FTC, the one after is from the DOJ.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider XCast Labs, Inc., agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it funneled hundreds of millions of illegal robocalls through its network
According to the complaint filed on May 12, XCast provided VoIP services that transmitted billions of illegal robocalls
Do these people not understand the difference between hundreds of millions and billions? But it would not matter if XCast was conveying hundreds of billions or trillions of illegal calls. No American robocalling business ever gets punished for profiting from crime anyway.
