Almost Every State Is Suing the Same Robocall Company

Do you like robocalls? More to the point, does anyone? Assumably, people who make a living from robocalls do, but otherwise, it seems like a fairly universal thing to loathe. That might help to explain why 48 of the nation’s 50 states — plus the District of Columbia — have joined together in a massive lawsuit with the intention of seriously reducing the number of unwanted calls people receive.

Turns out that, just like resort fees when booking a hotel room, there are some things virtually everyone can agree on.

CBS News reports that the lawsuit is targeting Avid Telecom, which stands accused of making 7.5 billion calls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry. This is, in fact, illegal. The lawsuit agues that Avid Telecom “sold DIDs in bulk and were capable of providing DIDs for telephone numbers from every area code in the United States.” (DIDs, or Direct Inward Dialing numbers, are the numbers that appear on your phone’s Caller ID.)

As Engadget notes in their reporting on the suit, the lawsuit has two purposes: getting Avid Telecom to cease this practice, and getting some restitution made to people who were called illegally.

Why Your Own Phone Number Is Now Spam Texting You

No, you’re not going nuts: Several Verizon users have reported SMS phishing attempts that seemingly originate from their own phones

In case you’re wondering who the two states not taking part in the lawsuit are, the answers are Alaska and South Dakota. Several companies have been ordered to pay fines or provide compensation to the recipients of robocalls, making the scale of this new lawsuit especially worth keeping an eye on. And hey, maybe it’ll mean fewer conversations with an automated voice trying to get you to part with your money.