Who hates robocalls? Everybody -- and the FTC hopes these guys have an answer

Crowd-Sourced Call Identification and Suppression submission (http://robocall.challenge.gov/submissions/13290-crowd-sourced-call-identification-and-suppression)

(Credit: Daniel Klein and Dean Jackson) If there's one Washington topic of conversation that's guaranteed to win plaudits from both sides of the partisan aisle it's what to do about robocalls. Despite rules banning most commercial robocalls, the agency still receives tens of thousands of consumer complaints each month. Indeed on a web page it operates, the FTC acknowledges that current laws have not stopped companies from "using autodialers that can send out thousands of phone calls every minute for an incredibly low cost."

So if Uncle Sam can't do it alone, the thinking is: turn to the private sector.

Earlier today, the FTC announced the winners of a competition in what it calls its "Robocall Challenge," splitting the $50,000 first place price for overall solution to Serdar Danis and Aaron Foss. According to the agency, their proposals each deploy a CAPTCHA-style test to block illegal calls from getting through.

At the same time, organizations that employ 10 or more people were eligible for another non-monetary award as the judges selected Daniel Klein and Dean Jackson from Google for their Crowd-Source... [Read more]