[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2204 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2204
To allow the Federal Communications Commission to carry out a pilot
program under which voice service providers could block certain
automated calls, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 23, 2019
Mr. Crapo (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To allow the Federal Communications Commission to carry out a pilot
program under which voice service providers could block certain
automated calls, 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 ``Data Analytics Robocall Technology
Act of 2019'' or the ``DART Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission;
(2) the term ``gateway provider'' means a voice service
provider that, with respect to a consumer--
(A) does not have a direct relationship with the
consumer; and
(B) offers an entry point onto the public switched
telephone network with respect to a call made by the
consumer;
(3) the term ``originating provider''--
(A) means a voice service provider that permits a
subscriber to originate a call that may be transmitted
on the public switched telephone network; and
(B) includes a gateway provider;
(4) the term ``public safety answering point'' has the
meaning given the term in section 222(h) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222(h)); and
(5) the term ``voice service'' means any service that--
(A) is interconnected with the public switched
telephone network; and
(B) 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)).
(b) Pilot Program.--Beginning not later than 18 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Commission may carry out a 1-year
pilot program under which, notwithstanding any other provision of law
or regulation--
(1) a voice service provider may, except as provided in
paragraph (5)--
(A) use data analytics and caller identification
authentication procedures to identify any call that the
voice service provider reasonably believes is highly
likely to be unlawful; and
(B) block a call identified under subparagraph (A);
(2) the Commission may not penalize a voice service
provider that, while acting in good faith under paragraph (1),
inadvertently blocks a lawful call;
(3) the Commission shall establish a process through
which--
(A) a caller that originates a call that a voice
service provider blocks under paragraph (1)(B) may
quickly report to the voice service provider that the
caller believes that the call should not have been
blocked; and
(B) a voice service provider that receives a report
under subparagraph (A) shall evaluate--
(i) whether the call to which the report
relates should have been blocked; and
(ii) the means by which to address future
calls from the number to which the report
relates;
(4) each voice service provider shall designate a single
point of contact to whom a caller may submit a report described
in paragraph (3);
(5) a voice service provider that blocks a call under
paragraph (1)(B) shall maintain a list of numbers that are not
eligible to be blocked, including any number used--
(A) for outgoing calls by a public safety answering
point or a similar facility that is designated to
originate or route emergency calls;
(B) to originate calls from a government entity,
such as a call generated during an emergency; and
(C) by a school, or a similar institution, to
provide school-related notifications, such as a
notification regarding--
(i) a weather-related closure; or
(ii) the existence of an emergency
affecting a school or students attending a
school;
(6) a voice service provider--
(A) may obtain, upon affirmative consent provided
by a consumer, a list of numbers from which the
consumer is willing to receive calls;
(B) shall, with respect to a consumer who provides
to the provider a list described in subparagraph (A),
block each call made to the consumer from a number that
is not on the list; and
(C) may not share a list obtained under
subparagraph (A) with the Commission or any other voice
service provider; and
(7) the Commission shall ensure that no consumer incurs any
cost relating to the pilot program.
(c) Evaluation of Pilot Program.--If the Commission establishes the
pilot program under subsection (b), after the expiration of the pilot
program, the Commission may--
(1) make a determination regarding the effectiveness of the
pilot program; and
(2) if the Commission determines under paragraph (1) that
the pilot program was effective, make the pilot program
permanent with any adjustments that the Commission determines
to be necessary.
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