For years, Congress and the FCC listened to complaints but did little. "Voluntary" industry guidelines were adopted but, as Joe Enoch reported in a 2006 ConsumerAffairs story, the charges -- and consumers' complaints about them -- mounted steadily. After more than a decade of inaction, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has enacted new rules to protect consumers from difficult-to-detect fraudulent charges on their landline phone bills. The new rules combat “cramming,” the illegal placement of unauthorized charges on a consumer’s monthly phone bill.
Congress created the problem back in 1996 when it passed new telecommunications legislation and swallowed the promise that opening America's telecommunications system to competition would deliver untold benefits to consumers.