[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2204 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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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