[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 704 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 519
110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 704

                          [Report No. 110-234]

  To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit manipulation of 
                   caller identification information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 28, 2007

  Mr. Nelson of Florida (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. 
 Stevens, and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following bill; which was 
  read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

                            December 5, 2007

               Reported by Mr. Inouye, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit manipulation of 
                   caller identification information.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Truth in Caller ID Act of 
2007''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. PROHIBITION REGARDING MANIPULATION OF CALLER 
              IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
227) is amended--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) 
        as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the 
        following new subsection:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(e) Prohibition on Provision of Inaccurate Caller 
Identification Information.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any 
        person within the United States, in connection with any 
        telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service, to 
        cause any caller identification service to transmit misleading 
        or inaccurate caller identification information, unless such 
        transmission is exempted pursuant to paragraph 
        (3)(B).</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Protection for blocking caller 
        identification information.--Nothing in this subsection may be 
        construed to prevent or restrict any person from blocking the 
        capability of any caller identification service to transmit 
        caller identification information.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(3) Regulations.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 6 months 
                after the enactment of this subsection, the Commission 
                shall prescribe regulations to implement this 
                subsection.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Content of regulations.--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) In general.--The regulations 
                        required under subparagraph (A) shall include 
                        such exemptions from the prohibition under 
                        paragraph (1) as the Commission determines 
                        appropriate.</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) Specific exemption for law 
                        enforcement agencies or court orders.--The 
                        regulations required under subparagraph (A) 
                        shall exempt from the prohibition under 
                        paragraph (1) transmissions in connection 
                        with--</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(I) any authorized 
                                activity of a law enforcement agency; 
                                or</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(II) a court order that 
                                specifically authorizes the use of 
                                caller identification 
                                manipulation.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(4) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the 
        enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall report to 
        Congress whether additional legislation is necessary to 
        prohibit the provision of inaccurate caller identification 
        information in technologies that are successor or replacement 
        technologies to telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice 
        service.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(5) Penalties.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) Civil forfeiture.--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) In general.--Any person that 
                        is determined by the Commission, in accordance 
                        with paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 503(b), 
                        to have violated this subsection shall be 
                        liable to the United States for a forfeiture 
                        penalty. A forfeiture penalty under this 
                        paragraph shall be in addition to any other 
                        penalty provided for by this Act. The amount of 
                        the forfeiture penalty determined under this 
                        paragraph shall not exceed $10,000 for each 
                        violation, or 3 times that amount for each day 
                        of a continuing violation, except that the 
                        amount assessed for any continuing violation 
                        shall not exceed a total of $1,000,000 for any 
                        single act or failure to act.</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) Recovery.--Any forfeiture 
                        penalty determined under clause (i) shall be 
                        recoverable pursuant to section 
                        504(a).</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) Procedure.--No forfeiture 
                        liability shall be determined under clause (i) 
                        against any person unless such person receives 
                        the notice required by section 503(b)(3) or 
                        section 503(b)(4).</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iv) 2-year statute of 
                        limitations.--No forfeiture penalty shall be 
                        determined or imposed against any person under 
                        clause (i) if the violation charged occurred 
                        more than 2 years prior to the date of issuance 
                        of the required notice or notice or apparent 
                        liability.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Criminal fine.--Any person who 
                willfully and knowingly violates this subsection shall 
                upon conviction thereof be fined not more than $10,000 
                for each violation, or 3 times that amount for each day 
                of a continuing violation, in lieu of the fine provided 
                by section 501 for such a violation. This subparagraph 
                does not supersede the provisions of section 501 
                relating to imprisonment or the imposition of a penalty 
                of both fine and imprisonment.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(6) Enforcement by states.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) In general.--The chief legal officer 
                of a State, or any other State officer authorized by 
                law to bring actions on behalf of the residents of a 
                State, may bring a civil action, as parens patriae, on 
                behalf of the residents of that State in an appropriate 
                district court of the United States to enforce this 
                subsection or to impose the civil penalties for 
                violation of this subsection, whenever the chief legal 
                officer or other State officer has reason to believe 
                that the interests of the residents of the State have 
                been or are being threatened or adversely affected by a 
                violation of this subsection or a regulation under this 
                subsection.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Notice.--The chief legal officer or 
                other State officer shall serve written notice on the 
                Commission of any civil action under subparagraph (A) 
                prior to initiating such civil action. The notice shall 
                include a copy of the complaint to be filed to initiate 
                such civil action, except that if it is not feasible 
                for the State to provide such prior notice, the State 
                shall provide such notice immediately upon instituting 
                such civil action.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) Authority to intervene.--Upon 
                receiving the notice required by subparagraph (B), the 
                Commission may intervene in such civil action and upon 
                intervening--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) be heard on all matters 
                        arising in such civil action; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) file petitions for appeal 
                        of a decision in such civil action.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) Construction.--For purposes of 
                bringing any civil action under subparagraph (A), 
                nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the chief legal 
                officer or other State officer from exercising the 
                powers conferred on that officer by the laws of such 
                State to conduct investigations or to administer oaths 
                or affirmations or to compel the attendance of 
                witnesses or the production of documentary and other 
                evidence.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(E) Venue; service or process.--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) Venue.--An action brought 
                        under subparagraph (A) shall be brought in a 
                        district court of the United States that meets 
                        applicable requirements relating to venue under 
                        section 1391 of title 28, United States 
                        Code.</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) Service of process.--In an 
                        action brought under subparagraph (A)--
                        </DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(I) process may be 
                                served without regard to the 
                                territorial limits of the district or 
                                of the State in which the action is 
                                instituted; and</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(II) a person who 
                                participated in an alleged violation 
                                that is being litigated in the civil 
                                action may be joined in the civil 
                                action without regard to the residence 
                                of the person.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(F) Limitation on state action while 
                federal action is pending.--If the Commission has 
                instituted an enforcement action or proceeding for 
                violation of this subsection, the chief legal officer 
                or other State officer of the State in which the 
                violation occurred may not bring an action under this 
                section during the pendency of the proceeding against 
                any person with respect to whom the Commission has 
                instituted the proceeding.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(7) Definitions.--For purposes of this 
        subsection:</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) Caller identification information.--
                The term `caller identification information' means 
                information provided by a caller identification service 
                regarding the telephone number of, or other information 
                regarding the origination of, a call made using a 
                telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice 
                service.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Caller identification service.--The 
                term `caller identification service' means any service 
                or device designed to provide the user of the service 
                or device with the telephone number of, or other 
                information regarding the origination of, a call made 
                using a telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice 
                service. Such term includes automatic number 
                identification services.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) IP-enabled voice service.--The term 
                `IP-enabled voice service' means the provision of real-
                time 2-way voice communications offered to the public, 
                or such classes of users as to be effectively available 
                to the public, transmitted through customer premises 
                equipment using TCP/IP protocol, or a successor 
                protocol, for a fee (whether part of a bundle of 
                services or separately) with interconnection capability 
                such that the service can originate traffic to, or 
                terminate traffic from, the public switched telephone 
                network.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(8) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this section, subsection (f) shall not apply to 
        this subsection or to the regulations under this 
        subsection.''</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION REGARDING MANIPULATION OF CALLER IDENTIFICATION 
              INFORMATION.

    Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) as 
        subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(e) Prohibition on Provision of Inaccurate Caller Identification 
Information.--
            ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any person 
        within the United States, in connection with any 
        telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service, to 
        cause any caller identification service to knowingly transmit 
        misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with 
        the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain 
        anything of value, unless such transmission is exempted 
        pursuant to paragraph (3)(B).
            ``(2) Protection for blocking caller identification 
        information.--Nothing in this subsection may be construed to 
        prevent or restrict any person from blocking the capability of 
        any caller identification service to transmit caller 
        identification information.
            ``(3) Regulations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 6 months after 
                the date of enactment of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 
                2007, the Commission shall prescribe regulations to 
                implement this subsection.
                    ``(B) Content of regulations.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The regulations required 
                        under subparagraph (A) shall include such 
                        exemptions from the prohibition under paragraph 
                        (1) as the Commission determines is 
                        appropriate.
                            ``(ii) Specific exemption for law 
                        enforcement agencies or court orders.--The 
                        regulations required under subparagraph (A) 
                        shall exempt from the prohibition under 
                        paragraph (1) transmissions in connection 
                        with--
                                    ``(I) any authorized activity of a 
                                law enforcement agency; or
                                    ``(II) a court order that 
                                specifically authorizes the use of 
                                caller identification manipulation.
                            ``(iii) Effect on other laws.--Nothing in 
                        this subsection shall be construed to authorize 
                        or prohibit any investigative, protective, or 
                        intelligence activities performed in connection 
                        with official duties and in accordance with all 
                        applicable laws, by a law enforcement agency of 
                        the United States, a State, or a political 
                        subdivision of a State, or by an intelligence 
                        agency of the United States.
            ``(4) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the enactment 
        of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007, the Commission shall 
        report to Congress whether additional legislation is necessary 
        to prohibit the provision of inaccurate caller identification 
        information in technologies that are successor or replacement 
        technologies to telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice 
        service.
            ``(5) Penalties.--
                    ``(A) Civil forfeiture.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Any person that is 
                        determined by the Commission, in accordance 
                        with paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 503(b), 
                        to have violated this subsection shall be 
                        liable to the United States for a forfeiture 
                        penalty. A forfeiture penalty under this 
                        paragraph shall be in addition to any other 
                        penalty provided for by this Act. The amount of 
                        the forfeiture penalty determined under this 
                        paragraph shall not exceed $10,000 for each 
                        violation, or 3 times that amount for each day 
                        of a continuing violation, except that the 
                        amount assessed for any continuing violation 
                        shall not exceed a total of $1,000,000 for any 
                        single act or failure to act.
                            ``(ii) Recovery.--Any forfeiture penalty 
                        determined under clause (i) shall be 
                        recoverable pursuant to section 504(a).
                            ``(iii) Procedure.--No forfeiture liability 
                        shall be determined under clause (i) against 
                        any person unless such person receives the 
                        notice required by section 503(b)(3) or section 
                        503(b)(4).
                            ``(iv) 2-year statute of limitations.--No 
                        forfeiture penalty shall be determined or 
                        imposed against any person under clause (i) if 
                        the violation charged occurred more than 2 
                        years prior to the date of issuance of the 
                        required notice or notice or apparent 
                        liability.
                    ``(B) Criminal fine.--Any person who willfully and 
                knowingly violates this subsection shall upon 
                conviction thereof be fined not more than $10,000 for 
                each violation, or 3 times that amount for each day of 
                a continuing violation, in lieu of the fine provided by 
                section 501 for such a violation. This subparagraph 
                does not supersede the provisions of section 501 
                relating to imprisonment or the imposition of a penalty 
                of both fine and imprisonment.
            ``(6) Enforcement by states.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The chief legal officer of a 
                State, or any other State officer authorized by law to 
                bring actions on behalf of the residents of a State, 
                may bring a civil action, as parens patriae, on behalf 
                of the residents of that State in an appropriate 
                district court of the United States to enforce this 
                subsection or to impose the civil penalties for 
                violation of this subsection, whenever the chief legal 
                officer or other State officer has reason to believe 
                that the interests of the residents of the State have 
                been or are being threatened or adversely affected by a 
                violation of this subsection or a regulation under this 
                subsection.
                    ``(B) Notice.--The chief legal officer or other 
                State officer shall serve written notice on the 
                Commission of any civil action under subparagraph (A) 
                prior to initiating such civil action. The notice shall 
                include a copy of the complaint to be filed to initiate 
                such civil action, except that if it is not feasible 
                for the State to provide such prior notice, the State 
                shall provide such notice immediately upon instituting 
                such civil action.
                    ``(C) Authority to intervene.--Upon receiving the 
                notice required by subparagraph (B), the Commission 
                shall have the right--
                            ``(i) to intervene in the action;
                            ``(ii) upon so intervening, to be heard on 
                        all matters arising therein; and
                            ``(iii) to file petitions for appeal.
                    ``(D) Construction.--For purposes of bringing any 
                civil action under subparagraph (A), nothing in this 
                paragraph shall prevent the chief legal officer or 
                other State officer from exercising the powers 
                conferred on that officer by the laws of such State to 
                conduct investigations or to administer oaths or 
                affirmations or to compel the attendance of witnesses 
                or the production of documentary and other evidence.
                    ``(E) Venue; service or process.--
                            ``(i) Venue.--An action brought under 
                        subparagraph (A) shall be brought in a district 
                        court of the United States that meets 
                        applicable requirements relating to venue under 
                        section 1391 of title 28, United States Code.
                            ``(ii) Service of process.--In an action 
                        brought under subparagraph (A)--
                                    ``(I) process may be served without 
                                regard to the territorial limits of the 
                                district or of the State in which the 
                                action is instituted; and
                                    ``(II) a person who participated in 
                                an alleged violation that is being 
                                litigated in the civil action may be 
                                joined in the civil action without 
                                regard to the residence of the person.
            ``(7) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
                    ``(A) Caller identification information.--The term 
                `caller identification information' means information 
                provided by a caller identification service regarding 
                the telephone number of, or other information regarding 
                the origination of, a call made using a 
                telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service.
                    ``(B) Caller identification service.--The term 
                `caller identification service' means any service or 
                device designed to provide the user of the service or 
                device with the telephone number of, or other 
                information regarding the origination of, a call made 
                using a telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice 
                service. Such term includes automatic number 
                identification services.
                    ``(C) IP-enabled voice service.--The term `IP-
                enabled voice service' has the meaning given that term 
                by section 9.3 of the Commission's regulations (47 
                C.F.R. 9.3), as those regulations may be amended by the 
                Commission from time to time.
            ``(8) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this section, subsection (f) shall not apply to this subsection 
        or to the regulations under this subsection.''
                                                       Calendar No. 519

110th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 704

                          [Report No. 110-234]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit manipulation of 
                   caller identification information.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            December 5, 2007

                       Reported with an amendment