Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Spoofing Prevention Act of 2016”.
Spoofing Prevention Act of 2016
A BILL
To expand the prohibition on misleading or inaccurate caller identification information, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Definitions
In this Act:
Commission— The term Commission means the Federal Communications Commission.
Voice service— The term voice service means any service 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)).
Sec. 3 Expanding and clarifying prohibition on misleading or inaccurate caller identification information
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 striking “in connection with any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service” and inserting “or any person outside the United States if the recipient of the call is within the United States, in connection with any voice service or text messaging service”.
Coverage of text messages and voice services— Section 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) is amended—
in subparagraph (A), by striking “telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service” and inserting “voice service or a text message sent using a text messaging service”;
in the first sentence of subparagraph (B), by striking “telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service” and inserting “voice service or a text message sent using a text messaging service”; and
by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following:
“(C) Text message—The term text message—
“(i) means a 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 10-digit telephone number;
“(ii) includes a short message service (commonly referred to as “SMS”) message, an enhanced message service (commonly referred to as “EMS”) message, and a multimedia message service (commonly referred to as “MMS”) message; and
“(iii) does not include a real-time, 2-way voice or video communication.
“(D) 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 voice service.
“(E) Voice service—The term voice service means any service 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).”
Technical amendment— Section 227(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)) is amended in the heading by inserting “misleading or” before “inaccurate”.
Regulations—
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”.
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 enactment of this Act.
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after the date on which the Commission prescribes regulations under subsection (d).
Sec. 4 Report on existing technological solutions to combat misleading or inaccurate caller identification information
Publication of report— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commission shall publish on the website of the Commission a report that identifies existing technology solutions that a consumer can use to protect the consumer against misleading or inaccurate caller identification information.
Contents of report— In preparing the report under subsection (a), the Commission shall—
analyze existing technologies that can enable consumers to guard against misleading or inaccurate caller identification information;
describe how the technologies described in paragraph (1) protect consumers; and
detail how voice service subscribers can obtain access to the technologies described in paragraph (1).
Sec. 5 GAO report on combating the fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information
In general— The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study of the actions the Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have taken to combat the fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information, and the additional measures that could be taken to combat such activity.
Required considerations— In conducting the study under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall examine—
trends in the types of scams that rely on misleading or inaccurate caller identification information;
previous and current enforcement actions by the Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to combat the practices prohibited by section 227(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1));
current efforts by industry groups and other entities to develop technical standards to deter or prevent the fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information, and how such standards may help combat the current and future provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information; and
whether there are additional actions the Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and Congress should take to combat the fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information.
Report— Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report on the findings of the study under subsection (a), including any recommendations regarding combating the fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification information.
Sec. 6 Rules of construction
In general— Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to modify, limit, or otherwise affect any rule or order adopted by the Commission in connection with—
the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (Public Law 102–243; 105 Stat. 2394) or the amendments made by that Act; or
the CAN–SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.).
Additional— Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed—
to mean that a text messaging service (as defined in section 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) is a telecommunications service under title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), or require or direct the Commission to classify a text messaging service as a telecommunications service;
to mean that an interconnected VoIP service (as defined in section 9.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation) or a non-interconnected VoIP service (as defined in section 64.601(a)(23) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation) is a telecommunications service under title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), or require or direct the Commission to classify an interconnected VoIP service or a non-interconnected VoIP service as a telecommunications service; or
to modify, limit, or otherwise affect the authority of the Commission to determine the scope of any other provision of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and its applicability to any voice service, including an interconnected VoIP service or a non-interconnected VoIP service, or text messaging service.