If you are one of those people who are tired of getting automated phone calls urging you to vote for a certain candidate or pitching you for a cruise vacation, you can now tell your phone company that federal regulators say it’s okay to block them.

The big question now is whether the phone companies have the kind of technology to do it in a way that the consumers will want.

According to Denverpost, The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday agreed that Verizon, AT&T, and other telecommunication carriers aren’t duty-bound to connect those annoying robocalls if the consumer isn’t comfortable receiving them. The FCC commissioners mostly agreed that call blocking technology should not only be allowed but encouraged.

The FCC has also voted in favor of expanding its life program to provide low-income subsidies for broadband services.

The commission voted 3 to 2 along party lines to adopt rules that will enhance consumer protection for unwanted calls and text messages to their cell phones.

The commission’s three Democrats who voted for the rules included FCC chairperson Tom Wheeler, who proposed them last month, citing the need to update regulations to keep pace with technology. The two Republican commissioners voted against them, repeating that the industry claims that the new rules unleash a flurry of frivolous lawsuits without providing consumers additional protection.

The rules that will take effect immediately, deny industry requests to be shielded from legal liability when making computer generated cellphone calls and texts to wrong numbers or without the recipient’s permission.

Wheeler said that the rules provided sensible but limited expectation alerts about financial fraud or medical emergencies.

Besides, the new regulations give telephone service providers a green light to offer consumer call-blocking tools to stop unwanted contact. Phone companies and state attorneys general had asked the FCC to clarify if providing call blocking services was legal. Today’s rules also make it clear that consumers have the right to withdraw any previous consent to receive robocalls or texts.