Federal Contest Awards Makers Of Robocall-Blocking Software

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WASHINGTON (AP) — There may one day soon be another way to fight those annoying prerecorded phone pitches known as robocalls.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced the winners of its contest to develop a blocking technology for the illegal sales phone calls.

The contest ended with a tie. The winners are Serdar Danis and Aaron Foss. Each will receive $25,000.

The technologies developed by Danis and Foss involve software that could analyze and filter calls to screen out those being placed from a computer or from someone who has been identified as an unwanted caller.

The FTC logs tens of thousands of complaints each month from consumers about robocalls.

The agency isn’t endorsing a particular technology but hopes the challenge will lead to one that can be developed for the marketplace.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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