II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Data Analytics 

5 Robocall Technology Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DART Act of 

6 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

2 Communications Commission; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘gateway provider’’ means a voice 

4 service provider that, with respect to a consumer— 

5 (A) does not have a direct relationship 

6 with the consumer; and 

7 (B) offers an entry point onto the public 

8 switched telephone network with respect to a 

9 call made by the consumer; 

10 (3) the term ‘‘originating provider’’— 

11 (A) means a voice service provider that 

12 permits a subscriber to originate a call that 

13 may be transmitted on the public switched tele14 phone network; and 

15 (B) includes a gateway provider; 

16 (4) the term ‘‘public safety answering point’’ 

17 has the meaning given the term in section 222(h) of 

18 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

19 222(h)); and 

20 (5) the term ‘‘voice service’’ means any service 

21 that— 

22 (A) is interconnected with the public 

23 switched telephone network; and 

24 (B) furnishes voice communications to an 

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1 ican Numbering Plan or any successor to the 

2 North American Numbering Plan adopted by 

3 the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the 

4 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

5 251(e)(1)). 

6 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.—Beginning not later than 18 

7 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Com8 mission may carry out a 1-year pilot program under 

9 which, notwithstanding any other provision of law or regu10 lation— 

11 (1) a voice service provider may, except as pro12 vided in paragraph (5)— 

13 (A) use data analytics and caller identifica14 tion authentication procedures to identify any 

15 call that the voice service provider reasonably 

16 believes is highly likely to be unlawful; and 

17 (B) block a call identified under subpara18 graph (A); 

19 (2) the Commission may not penalize a voice 

20 service provider that, while acting in good faith 

21 under paragraph (1), inadvertently blocks a lawful 

22 call; 

23 (3) the Commission shall establish a process 

24 through which— 


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1 (A) a caller that originates a call that a 

2 voice service provider blocks under paragraph 

3 (1)(B) may quickly report to the voice service 

4 provider that the caller believes that the call 

5 should not have been blocked; and 

6 (B) a voice service provider that receives a 

7 report under subparagraph (A) shall evaluate— 

8 (i) whether the call to which the re9 port relates should have been blocked; and 

10 (ii) the means by which to address fu11 ture calls from the number to which the 

12 report relates; 

13 (4) each voice service provider shall designate a 

14 single point of contact to whom a caller may submit 

15 a report described in paragraph (3); 

16 (5) a voice service provider that blocks a call 

17 under paragraph (1)(B) shall maintain a list of 

18 numbers that are not eligible to be blocked, includ19 ing any number used— 

20 (A) for outgoing calls by a public safety 

21 answering point or a similar facility that is des22 ignated to originate or route emergency calls; 

23 (B) to originate calls from a government 

24 entity, such as a call generated during an emer25 gency; and 


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1 (C) by a school, or a similar institution, to 

2 provide school-related notifications, such as a 

3 notification regarding— 

4 (i) a weather-related closure; or 

5 (ii) the existence of an emergency af6 fecting a school or students attending a 

7 school; 

8 (6) a voice service provider— 

9 (A) may obtain, upon affirmative consent 

10 provided by a consumer, a list of numbers from 

11 which the consumer is willing to receive calls; 

12 (B) shall, with respect to a consumer who 

13 provides to the provider a list described in sub14 paragraph (A), block each call made to the con15 sumer from a number that is not on the list; 

16 and 

17 (C) may not share a list obtained under 

18 subparagraph (A) with the Commission or any 

19 other voice service provider; and 

20 (7) the Commission shall ensure that no con21 sumer incurs any cost relating to the pilot program. 

22 (c) EVALUATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—If the Com23 mission establishes the pilot program under subsection 

24 (b), after the expiration of the pilot program, the Commis25 sion may— 


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1 (1) make a determination regarding the effec2 tiveness of the pilot program; and 

3 (2) if the Commission determines under para4 graph (1) that the pilot program was effective, make 

5 the pilot program permanent with any adjustments 

6 that the Commission determines to be necessary. 

Æ 


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