New push to stop robocalls through call-blocking technology

ALBANY -- New York's attorney general has joined counterparts from 44 other states in calling on five major phone companies to offer call-blocking technology to customers to help stop robocalls.

Their joint letter to the company chief executives says a recent rule clarification by the Federal Communications Commission shows federal law doesn't prohibit that service.

The letters have been sent to AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and CenturyLink.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says his office gets "numerous complaints every year" about unwanted phone solicitations.

At a U.S. Senate hearing in 2013, phone industry representatives said legal barriers prevented carriers from implementing advanced call-blocking technology.

Last year, 39 state attorneys general asked the FCC for the clarification, which the agency issued last month, prompting the letter from the attorneys general.