[House Report 113-572]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     113-572

======================================================================



 
                       ANTI-SPOOFING ACT OF 2014

                                _______
                                

 September 8, 2014.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Upton, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3670]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 3670) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to 
expand and clarify the prohibition on provision of inaccurate 
caller identification information, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     2
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     3
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures     3
Earmark, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff Benefits.......     3
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     4
Congressional Budget Office Estimate.............................     4
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................     5
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     5
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     5
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     5
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................     5
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     5

    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Anti-Spoofing Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING PROHIBITION ON INACCURATE CALLER ID 
                    INFORMATION.

  (a) Communications From Outside United States.--Section 227(e)(1) of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S. C. 227(e)(1)) is amended by 
inserting ``or any person outside the United States if the recipient is 
within the United States,'' after ``United States,''.
  (b) Text Messaging Service.--Section 227(e)(8) of the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S. C. 227(e)(8)) is amended--
          (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(including a text 
        message sent using a text messaging service)'' before the 
        period at the end;
          (2) in the first sentence of subparagraph (B), by inserting 
        ``(including a text message sent using a text messaging 
        service)'' before the period at the end; and
          (3) by adding at the end the following:
                  ``(D) Text message.--The term `text message' means a 
                real-time or near real-time message consisting of text, 
                images, sounds, or other information that is 
                transmitted from or received by a device that is 
                identified as the transmitting or receiving device by 
                means of a telephone number. Such term--
                          ``(i) includes a short message service (SMS) 
                        message, an enhanced message service (EMS) 
                        message, and a multimedia message service (MMS) 
                        message; and
                          ``(ii) does not include a real-time, two-way 
                        voice or video communication.
                  ``(E) Text messaging service.--The term `text 
                messaging service' means a service that permits the 
                transmission or receipt of a text message, including a 
                service provided as part of or in connection with a 
                telecommunications service or an IP-enabled voice 
                service.''.
  (c) Coverage of Outgoing-Call-Only IP-Enabled Voice Service.--Section 
227(e)(8)(C) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S. C. 
227(e)(8)(C)) is amended by striking ``has the meaning'' and all that 
follows and inserting ``means the provision of real-time voice 
communications offered to the public, or such class of users as to be 
effectively available to the public, transmitted using Internet 
protocol, or a successor protocol, (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, or a successor network.''.
  (d) Regulations.--
          (1) In general.--Section 227(e)(3)(A) of the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S. C. 227(e)(3)(A)) is amended by striking 
        ``Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of the 
        Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, the Commission'' and inserting 
        ``The Commission''.
          (2) Deadline.--The Federal Communications Commission shall 
        prescribe regulations to implement the amendments made by this 
        section not later than 18 months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
  (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date that is 6 months after the date on which the Federal 
Communications Commission prescribes regulations to implement the 
amendments made by this section.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 3670, the ``Anti-Spoofing Act of 2013,'' amends the 
Communications Act of 1934 to expand and clarify the 
prohibition on the provision of inaccurate caller 
identification information.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    Spoofing is the practice where a person making a call can 
intentionally falsify the telephone number or name that appears 
on the Caller ID of the party they are calling. While there are 
accepted legitimate purposes for altering Caller ID data, 
spoofing can be used for malicious or illegal purposes, such as 
phishing for sensitive personal information or falsely 
reporting a crime in order to generate a police response. 
Consumers are subject to spoofing attacks that seek to gain 
sensitive information, such as bank account numbers, passwords, 
and the like. These attacks are increasingly generated by scam 
artists operating overseas. The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 
prohibits spoofing voice call identifying information for the 
purposes of defrauding or otherwise causing harm. In response 
to changing consumer habits and communications options, H.R. 
3670 extends these existing prohibitions on spoofing for voice 
calls to include callers outside the United States as well as 
text messages. As text messaging becomes more and more 
prevalent, the opportunity for mischief through spoofing grows.
    The Anti-Spoofing Act also updates the definition of ``IP-
enabled voice service'' to include outgoing-call-only voice 
over Internet protocol (VOIP) services.

                        Committee Consideration

    On July 24, 2014, the Subcommittee on Communications and 
Technology held a hearing on H.R. 3670. Witnesses included one 
of the bill's sponsors, Representative Grace Meng, and Harold 
Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge.
    On July 29 and 30, 2014, the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce met in open markup session, to consider H.R. 3670. 
H.R. 3670 was ordered favorably reported to the House, as 
amended, by voice vote.

                            Committee Votes

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes 
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. 
There were no record votes taken in connection with ordering 
H.R. 3670 reported. A motion by Mr. Upton to order H.R. 3670 
reported to the House, as amended, was agreed to by a voice 
vote.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee held hearings and made 
findings that are reflected in this report.

         Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives

    The goal and objective of H.R. 3670 is to expand the Truth 
in Caller ID Act of 2009 to include text messaging and text 
message services.

   New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that H.R. 
3670 would result in no new or increased budget authority, 
entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or revenues.

       Earmark, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff Benefits

    In compliance with clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee 
finds that H.R. 3670 contains no earmarks, limited tax 
benefits, or limited tariff benefits.

                        Committee Cost Estimate

    The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared 
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                  Congressional Budget Office Estimate

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, August 20, 2014.
Hon. Fred Upton,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3670, the Anti-
Spoofing Act of 2014.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susan Willie.
            Sincerely,
                                         Robert A. Sunshine
                              (For Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 3670--Anti-Spoofing Act of 2014

    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3670 would have a 
negligible effect on net discretionary spending over the 2015-
2019 period. Enacting H.R. 3670 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply.
    Under current law, entities are prohibited from 
transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller identification 
information. H.R. 3670 would broaden that prohibition to 
include text messages and certain Voice-over-Internet-Protocol 
services as well.
    Based on information from the Federal Communications 
Commission, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3670 would 
cost less than $500,000 for rulemaking activities required 
under the bill. The commission is authorized to collect fees 
sufficient to cover its annual appropriation; therefore, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 3670 would have a negligible 
net effect on discretionary spending, assuming appropriation 
action consistent with that authority.
    H.R. 3670 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Susan Willie. 
The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    No provision of H.R. 3670 establishes or reauthorizes a 
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of 
another Federal program, a program that was included in any 
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program 
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

                  Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings

    The Committee estimates that enacting H.R. 3670 
specifically directs to be completed one rule making within the 
meaning of 5 U.S. C. 551.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

             Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation


Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides the short title of the ``Anti-Spoofing 
Act of 2013.''

Section 2. Expanding and clarifying prohibition on inaccurate caller ID 
        information

    Section 2(a) extends the prohibition of knowingly 
transmitting false identification information to include 
callers outside of the United States.
    Section 2(b) extends the existing prohibitions on falsified 
caller identification information to include text messages. 
This subsection also defines the terms ``text message'' and 
``text messaging service.'' Importantly, this section only 
applies to text messages sent using ten-digit telephone 
numbers, not messages sent using other addressing mechanisms, 
including social media messaging services.
    Section 2(c) amends the current definition of IP-enabled 
voice service to include outgoing-call-only IP-enabled voice 
service.
    Sections 2(d) and 2(e) set forth the deadlines and 
effective dates for Commission action.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



                       TITLE II--COMMON CARRIERS

PART I--COMMON CARRIER REGULATION

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 227. RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT.

  (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (e) Prohibition on Provision of Inaccurate Caller 
Identification Information.--
          (1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any person 
        within the United States, or any person outside the 
        United States if the recipient is 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).

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (3) Regulations.--
                  (A) In general.--[Not later than 6 months 
                after the date of enactment of the Truth in 
                Caller ID Act of 2009, the Commission] The 
                Commission shall prescribe regulations to 
                implement this subsection.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (8) 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 (including a text message sent using a 
                text messaging 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 (including a text message sent using a 
                text messaging 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.] means the provision of 
                real-time voice communications offered to the 
                public, or such class of users as to be 
                effectively available to the public, 
                transmitted using Internet protocol, or a 
                successor protocol, (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, or a 
                successor network.
                  (D) Text message.--The term ``text message'' 
                means a real-time or near real-time message 
                consisting of text, images, sounds, or other 
                information that is transmitted from or 
                received by a device that is identified as the 
                transmitting or receiving device by means of a 
                telephone number. Such term--
                          (i) includes a short message service 
                        (SMS) message, an enhanced message 
                        service (EMS) message, and a multimedia 
                        message service (MMS) message; and
                          (ii) does not include a real-time, 
                        two-way voice or video communication.
                  (E) Text messaging service.--The term ``text 
                messaging service'' means a service that 
                permits the transmission or receipt of a text 
                message, including a service provided as part 
                of or in connection with a telecommunications 
                service or an IP-enabled voice service.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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