US Congress Robocalling Bill

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) reintroduced the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR 946).  The bill would direct the FCC to enact strong consumer protections for authorized calls and empower the FCC with strong enforcement tools to reign in robocallers.  The legislation would also ensure that consumers have the ability to stop calls they’d previously authorized and require incoming calls to have authentic caller identification information before they are delivered to customers.  “Americans are fed up with robocalls.  It is incredibly annoying to repeatedly get unwanted calls from people you don’t know and don’t want to talk to,” Pallone said.  “Despite previous efforts like the Do Not Call Registry, robocalls are still on the rise. The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act will equip consumer protection agencies with innovative, new tools designed to stop the abusive practices by robocallers and better restrict unauthorized robocalls.”

Last year, an estimated 26.3 billion unwanted calls were placed in the U.S., which represents a 46 percent increase in unwanted calls over the previous year.

The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act would curb the rise of robocalls by:

• Amending the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to ensure that the FCC has the authority and the tools to take strong, quick action when they track down robocallers;
• Allowing consumers to revoke consent they had previously given to receive calls at any time and in any reasonable manner;
• Codifying a reassigned number database to put robocallers on notice when a telephone number they may have previously been authorized to call has been given to a new customer who has not authorized their call;
• Limiting the number of robocalls exempted from the TCPA under the FCC’s rules;
• Requiring calls to have verified caller identification information associated with a call before the call can be put through; and
• Extending the statute of limitations from one year to four years for callers violating robocall prohibitions. 

Pallone’s bill is originally cosponsored by: Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), Marc Veasey (D-TX), A. Donald McEachin (D-VA), Darren Soto (D-FL), Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Charlie Crist (D-FL).

A section-by-section analysis is available here; the bill text is available here.

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The Regulatory Mix Today: Chairman Pai Calls for Progress in Improving Accuracy of Wireless Emergency Alerts, US Congress Robocalling Bill

Chairman Pai Calls for Progress in Improving Accuracy of Wireless Emergency Alerts

Chairman Ajit Pai called on wireless carriers and standards bodies to continue the progress they have made toward implementing rules to improve the geographic targeting of Wireless Emergency Alerts. He also called on all parties—including wireless phone companies, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)—to maintain focus on meeting the required implementation date later this year.

“I’m pleased that private sector standards-setting bodies are making progress toward meeting the vital public safety goal of improved geo-targeting of Wireless Emergency Alerts,” said Chairman Pai. “Recognizing that there is still more work to be done, I urge all principals— from 3GPP and ATIS to the wireless carriers and handset manufacturers—to remain vigilant in their work to ensure that the benefits of enhanced wireless emergency alerts are made available by November. The American people want, expect, and deserve the best possible public safety services—including the most precise targeting available for wireless alerts.”

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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.