FTC Announces Agenda for Robocall Summit on October 18

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the agenda for its upcoming Robocall Summit, which will be held in Washington, DC, on October 18, 2012. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz will provide opening remarks, and will be joined at the event by experts in the fields of law enforcement, telemarketing and telecommunications.

During the last two years the FTC has stopped companies responsible for billions of robocalls that offered everything from fraudulent credit card services and so-called auto warranty protection to grant procurement programs. But the number of robocall complaints continues to rise as new technologies enable telemarketers to autodial thousands of phone calls every minute that display false or misleading caller ID information for an incredibly low cost.

The Robocall Summit will explore innovations designed to trace robocalls, prevent wrongdoers from faking caller ID data, and stop unwanted calls. The event will include a report on the current state of robocall technology and the industry, along with a discussion of the laws surrounding the use of robocalls, including how they are enforced, enforcement limitations, and what this means for consumers. The afternoon sessions will focus on developing solutions to the problem of illegal robocalls, including panels on caller ID spoofing and call authentication, data mining and anomaly detection, and call-blocking. The Summit, which will be webcast, will close with a special announcement by Bureau of Consumer Protection Director David Vladeck.

The workshop is free and open to the public. It will be held at the FTC’s satellite conference center at 601 New Jersey Ave., NW, Washington, DC. Pre-registration is encouraged because seating is limited. To pre-register, send an email containing your name and organization to robocall_summit@ftc.gov.

Day-of registration for the conference will begin at 8:15 am on the 18th. Please arrive at the FTC 30 minutes before the event, and bring a valid government issued photo ID. The security processing will include a metal detector and X-ray screening of all hand carried items.

FTC staff will live-tweet the Robocall Summit. The agency’s Twitter handle is @FTC. If you watch the webcast and want to submit questions to participants online, tweet questions with the hashtag #FTCrobo. You may also submit questions via the FTC’s Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/federaltradecommission.

FTC Robocall Summit
9:00 am	Welcome – Chairman Jon Leibowitz FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz
Morning Focus: Where We Are Today
9:15-10:05 am	The Network: What is the current state of telephonic technology? Steven M. Bellovin, Chief Technology Officer, Federal Trade Commission Henning Schulzrinne, Chief Technology Officer, Federal Communications Commission
10:10-11:00 am	The Industry: How have technological changes affected the telecommunications industry, including entities that want to make automated calls? Moderator: Roberto Anguizola, Assistant Director, FTC Division of Marketing Practices Kevin Rupy, Senior Director Law & Policy, US Telecom David Diggs, Vice President, Wireless Internet Development, CTIA Brad Herrmann, Founder & President, Call-Em-All
11:15-12:20 pm	The Law: What is the law surrounding robocalls? How is it enforced? What are the limitations and challenges? What does all of this mean for consumers? Moderator: Lois Greisman, Associate Director, FTC Division of Marketing Practices Greg Zoeller, Indiana Attorney General Will Maxson, Program Manager for Do Not Call Enforcement, FTC Eric Bash, Associate Chief, FCC
Afternoon Focus: Developing Solutions
1:20-2:40 pm	Caller ID Spoofing and Call Authentication Technology Moderator: Kati Daffan, Staff Attorney, FTC Division of Marketing Practices Henning Schulzrinne, Chief Technology Officer, FCC Adam Panagia, Director, AT&T Network Fraud Investigations Patrick Cox, CEO, TrustID Vijay A. Balasubramaniyan, CEO & Co-founder, Pindrop Security
2:45-3:15 pm	Data Mining and Anomaly Detection David Belanger, Senior Research Fellow, Stevens Institute of Technology, AT&T Labs Chief Scientist (retired)
3:30-4:40 pm	Call-Blocking Technology Moderator: Bikram Bandy, Staff Attorney, FTC Division of Marketing Practices Andrew Whitt, Director of Network Operations & Corporate Technology, Verizon Communications Jeff Stalnaker, President & Co-founder, PrivacyStar Matt Stein, Senior Vice President, Network, Technology & Planning, Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc
4:45 pm	Announcement – BCP Director David Vladeck

Pre-registration for this event is voluntary. The FTC will use your information, such as name and affiliation, to estimate and understand our audience better and to prepare name tags and check-in lists as required for building security. If you do not pre-register, we may be unable to accommodate you, and it may take longer to get through building security.