Tracing Back and Catching Unlawful Robocallers Act of 2019
This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to report annually on the status of private-led efforts to trace the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls and to list telecommunication service providers that have not sufficiently participated. The FCC shall also foster the establishment of a single consortium to conduct private-led efforts to trace the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3434 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3434
To require the Federal Communications Commission to publish an annual
report on suspected unlawful robocalls, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 24, 2019
Mr. Butterfield (for himself, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Soto, and Mr.
Gianforte) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Federal Communications Commission to publish an annual
report on suspected unlawful robocalls, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Tracing Back and Catching Unlawful
Robocallers Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL ROBOCALL REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall make
publicly available on the website of the Commission, and submit to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate, a
report on the status of private-led efforts to trace back the origin of
suspected unlawful robocalls by the registered consortium and the
participation of voice service providers in such efforts.
(b) Contents of Report.--The report required under subsection (a)
shall include, at minimum, the following:
(1) A description of private-led efforts to trace back the
origin of suspected unlawful robocalls by the registered
consortium and the actions taken by the registered consortium
to coordinate with the Commission.
(2) A list of voice service providers identified by the
registered consortium that participated in private-led efforts
to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls
through the registered consortium.
(3) A list of each voice service provider that received a
request from the registered consortium to participate in
private-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected
unlawful robocalls and refused to participate, as identified by
the registered consortium.
(4) The reason, if any, each voice service provider
identified by the registered consortium provided for not
participating in private-led efforts to trace back the origin
of suspected unlawful robocalls.
(5) A description of how the Commission may use the
information provided to the Commission by voice service
providers or the registered consortium that have participated
in private-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected
unlawful robocalls in the enforcement efforts by the
Commission.
(c) Additional Information.--Not later than 210 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission
shall issue a notice to the public seeking additional information from
voice service providers and the registered consortium of private-led
efforts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls
necessary for the report by the Commission required under subsection
(a).
(d) Registration of Consortium of Private-Led Efforts To Trace Back
the Origin of Suspected Unlawful Robocalls.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue rules to
establish a registration process for the registration of a
single consortium that conducts private-led efforts to trace
back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls. The consortium
shall meet the following requirements:
(A) Be a neutral third-party competent to manage
the private-led effort to trace back the origin of
suspected unlawful robocalls in the judgement of the
Commission.
(B) Maintain a set of written best practices about
the management of such efforts and regarding providers
of voice services' participation in private-led efforts
to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful
robocalls.
(C) Consistent with section 222(d)(2) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222(d)(2)), any
private-led efforts to trace back the origin of
suspected unlawful robocalls conducted by the third-
party focus on ``fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful''
traffic.
(D) File a notice with the Commission that the
consortium intends to conduct private-led efforts to
trace back in advance of such registration.
(2) Annual notice by the commission seeking
registrations.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission
shall issue a notice to the public seeking the registration
described in paragraph (1).
(e) List of Voice Service Providers.--The Commission may publish a
list of voice service providers from which other voice service
providers may refuse to accept calls, based on information obtained
from the consortium about voice service providers that refuse to
participate in private-led efforts to trace back the origin of
suspected unlawful robocalls, and other information the Commission may
collect about service providers that are found to originate or transmit
substantial amounts of illegal calls.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(2) Private-led effort to trace back.--The term ``private-
led effort to trace back'' means an effort made by the
registered consortium of voice service providers to establish a
methodology for determining the origin of a suspected unlawful
robocall.
(3) Registered consortium.--The term ``registered
consortium'' means the consortium registered under subsection
(d).
(4) Suspected unlawful robocall.--The term ``suspected
unlawful robocall'' means a call that the Commission or a voice
service provider reasonably believes was made in violation of
subsection (b) or (e) of section 227 of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227).
(5) Voice service.--The term ``voice service''--
(A) means any service that is interconnected with
the public switched telephone network and that
furnishes voice communications to an end user using
resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any
successor to the North American Numbering Plan adopted
by the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)); and
(B) includes--
(i) transmissions from a telephone
facsimile machine, computer, or other device to
a telephone facsimile machine; and
(ii) without limitation, any service that
enables real-time, two-way voice
communications, including any service that
requires internet protocol-compatible customer
premises equipment (commonly known as ``CPE'')
and permits out-bound calling, whether or not
the service is one-way or two-way voice over
internet protocol.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
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