II
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2956
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 20, 2014
Mr. Nelson (for himself, Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To prevent caller ID spoofing, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Phone Scam Prevention Act of 2014
.
Availability of whitelist services
In general
Part I of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Availability of whitelist services
Definitions
In this section—
the term voice service means any service that furnishes voice communications to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any successor plan adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1);
the term exempt entity means—
the Federal Government, a State, a political subdivision of a State, or an agency thereof; and
any entity with respect to which the Commission determines that allowing calls that originate from
that entity to connect directly with the voice service customer
premises equipment (commonly referred to as CPE
) of a subscriber would serve the public interest; and
the term whitelist means a list of telephone numbers, designated by a subscriber, for which calls originating from those numbers to the subscriber are permitted to connect directly with the voice service CPE of the subscriber.
Requirement To offer whitelist service
A provider of a voice service shall offer each subscriber the option to designate a whitelist, if technically feasible (as determined by the Commission on a periodic basis).
Treatment of nonapproved telephone numbers
In general
If a subscriber elects to designate a whitelist under subsection (b), the provider of the voice service of the subscriber shall ensure that any call the provider receives for termination that is not associated with a telephone number on the whitelist of the subscriber or the telephone number of an exempt entity is processed according to preferences set by the subscriber with respect to the whitelist, including by limiting or disabling the ability of an incoming call to connect with the CPE of the subscriber.
Safe harbor
Whitelist processing that, in accordance with the preferences of a subscriber, limits or disables connection with the CPE of a subscriber shall not be considered to be—
blocking traffic; or
an unjust or unreasonable practice under section 201 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201).
Number of telephone numbers on whitelist free of charge
In general
A provider of a voice service shall allow a subscriber (or a designated representative thereof) to designate not less than 10 telephone numbers to be on the whitelist under subsection (b), free of charge.
Telephone numbers of exempt entities
The telephone number of an exempt entity shall not be considered to be on the whitelist of a subscriber for purposes of calculating the 10 telephone numbers that may be designated under paragraph (1).
.
Effective date
Section 232 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
Authentication of call origination
Part I of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), as amended by section 2, is amended by adding at the end the following:
Authentication of call origination
Definition
In this section, the term voice service means any service that furnishes voice communications to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any successor plan adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1).
Development of authentication standards by Commission
Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of the Phone Scam Prevention Act of 2014, the Commission shall develop authentication standards for providers of a voice service to validate the calling party number and caller identification information of a call originated through a voice service so that the subscriber receiving the call may obtain—
a secure assurance of the origin of the call, including—
the calling party number; and
caller identification information for the call; or
notice that an assurance described in paragraph (1) is unavailable.
Adoption of authentication standards by entities
Each provider of a voice service that is allocated telephone numbers from the portion of the North American Numbering Plan that pertains to the United States shall adopt the authentication standards developed under subsection (b).
.
Expanding and clarifying prohibition on inaccurate caller id information
Communications from outside the United States
Section 227(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1)) is amended by striking in connection with any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service
and inserting or any person outside the United States if the recipient of the call is within the United States,
in connection with any voice service
.
Coverage of text messages and other voice services
Section 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) is amended—
in subparagraph (A), by striking telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service
and inserting voice service (including a text message sent using a text messaging service)
;
in the first sentence of subparagraph (B), by striking telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service
and inserting voice service (including a text message sent using a text messaging service)
; and
by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following:
Text message
The term text message—
means a real-time or near real-time message consisting of text, images, sounds, or other information that is transmitted from or received by a device that is identified as the transmitting or receiving device by means of a telephone number;
includes a short message service (commonly referred to as SMS
) message, an enhanced message service (commonly referred to as EMS
) message, and a multimedia message service (commonly referred to as MMS
) message; and
does not include a real-time, 2-way voice or video communication.
Text messaging service
The term text messaging service means a service that permits the transmission or receipt of a text message, including a service provided as part of or in connection with a voice service.
Voice service
The term voice service means any service that furnishes voice communications to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any successor plan adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1).
.
Rules of construction
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify, limit, or otherwise affect—
the authority, as of the day before the date of enactment of this Act, of the Federal Communications Commission to interpret the term call to include a text message (as defined under section 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (b)); or
any rule or order adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in connection with—
the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (Public Law 102–243; 105 Stat. 2394) or the amendments made by that Act; or
the CAN–SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.).
Regulations
Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall prescribe regulations to implement the amendments made by this section.
Effective date
The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after the date on which the Federal Communications Commission prescribes regulations under subsection (d).