US Congress Passes Robocalling Bill  

The Senate has passed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act (S. 151) by a simple voice vote.  It now heads to the president, who is expected to sign it into law.   The Act passed the House earlier this month. See the Regulatory Mix dated 12/6/19 

Among other things, the Act: 

• Broadens the authority of the FCC to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call on people who intentionally flout telemarketing restrictions.  
• Extends the window for the FCC to catch and take civil enforcement action against intentional violations to four years after a robocall is placed.  
• Brings together the Department of Justice, FCC, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Commerce, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other relevant federal agencies, as well as state attorneys general and other non-federal entities to identify and report to Congress on improving deterrence and criminal prosecution at the federal and state level of robocall scams.  
• Requires voice service providers to adopt call authentication technologies, enabling a telephone carrier to verify that incoming calls are legitimate before they reach consumers’ phones.  
• Directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking to help protect subscribers from receiving unwanted calls or texts from callers.  
• Directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking process to protect consumers from “one-ring” scams.  
• Requires the FCC to establish a working group to issue best practices to prevent hospitals from receiving illegal robocalls. 

U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the sponsors of the bill in the Senate  issued the following statements after the Senate approval:  “I have yet to meet someone who says they enjoy receiving those unwanted and illegal robocalls that plague our phones, whether we’re at home, at work, or in the car, which is why the TRACED Act takes several important steps in the fight to curb this scourge,” said Thune. “This bill represents a unique legislative effort that is not only bipartisan at its core, but it’s nearly unanimously supported in Congress. Most importantly, this is a significant win for consumers in every corner of the country, and it finally and officially puts illegal robocallers on notice. While no process is perfect, I’m glad we were able to work together with Republicans and Democrats, senators and members of the House to reach this important compromise, which, once signed into law, will begin to make an important down payment on the fight against illegal robocalls.” 

“The U.S. Senate today sent Americans a holiday gift on everyone’s list: stopping the plague of robocalls,” said Markey. “The annoying and harassing robocalls we receive every day are neither a Democrat nor Republican menace; they are a universal menace. The TRACED Act cracks down on scammers by requiring phone carriers to authenticate whether calls are legitimate, and then blocking unverified robocalls at no charge to consumers. I thank Senator Thune for his unwavering partnership on this important consumer protection issue. I hope the President quickly signs this bill into law so that families can enjoy a new year of family calls instead of robocalls.” 

US House members Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Greg Walden (R-OR), Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Bob Latta (R-OH), the sponsors of the bill in the House, issued a statement saying: “We’re delighted the Senate acted quickly to pass this legislation to shutdown illegal robocalls. We’re working hard to help the American people get real relief from these relentless and illegal calls. We look forward to the President signing this overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation into law very soon.” 

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The Regulatory Mix Today: US Congress Passes Robocalling Bill, Rosenworcel Releases Podcast, Canada Call Blocking to Start in December 2019 

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Rosenworcel Releases Podcast 

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel announced the release of a new episode of her podcast, Broadband Conversations. This episode features Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman of the Small Business Committee.  Congresswoman Velazquez was the first Hispanic woman to serve as ranking member of a full committee in the House of Representatives and was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a Chair of a full committee.  Rosenworcel said: “On today’s episode listeners will hear Congresswoman Velazquez describe how graduated from college at age 16, moved to New York at the age of 19 to earn her master’s degree, and then at age 21, she became a Professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Later she returned to New York and eventually came to Washington to serve as the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the House of Representatives. Congresswoman Velazquez has been a champion for small businesses and entrepreneurs. As Chairwoman of the Small Business Committee, she’s working tirelessly to ensure that those who have a good idea—including women--have every tool at their disposal, whether its information, new technologies, or access to capital.” 

Canada Call Blocking to Start in December 2019 

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that Canadians will soon have access to a call blocking system that better protects themselves against unsolicited and illegitimate calls. The CRTC required telecommunications service providers to implement this system within their networks by December 19, 2019. 

With the implementation of this system, calls with caller identification (caller ID) information that either exceeds 15 digits or does not conform to a number that can be dialed (for example, 000-000-0000) will be blocked before reaching the subscriber. 

Providers that offer their subscribers call filtering services, which provide more advanced call management features, will not have to implement call blocking. 

“Canadians need to have the right tools to manage nuisance calls.  With the implementation of a call blocking system, calls that are malformed will be stopped within the network.  At the same time, we are working with the industry on other tools to better protect Canadians from nuisance calls, including a process to alert them when the caller ID has been spoofed.”   - Ian Scott, Chairperson and CEO of the CRTC. 

The Regulatory Mix will be on hiatus December 24, 2019 to January 1, 2020.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.