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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2956 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2956

         To prevent caller ID spoofing, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 20, 2014

  Mr. Nelson (for himself, Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Booker) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
         To prevent caller ID spoofing, 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 ``Phone Scam Prevention Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF WHITELIST SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Part I of title II of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 232. AVAILABILITY OF WHITELIST SERVICES.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) 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 plan 
        adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1);
            ``(2) the term `exempt entity' means--
                    ``(A) the Federal Government, a State, a political 
                subdivision of a State, or an agency thereof; and
                    ``(B) any entity with respect to which the 
                Commission determines that allowing calls that 
                originate from that entity to connect directly with the 
                voice service customer premises equipment (commonly 
                referred to as `CPE') of a subscriber would serve the 
                public interest; and
            ``(3) the term `whitelist' means a list of telephone 
        numbers, designated by a subscriber, for which calls 
        originating from those numbers to the subscriber are permitted 
        to connect directly with the voice service CPE of the 
        subscriber.
    ``(b) Requirement To Offer Whitelist Service.--A provider of a 
voice service shall offer each subscriber the option to designate a 
whitelist, if technically feasible (as determined by the Commission on 
a periodic basis).
    ``(c) Treatment of Nonapproved Telephone Numbers.--
            ``(1) In general.--If a subscriber elects to designate a 
        whitelist under subsection (b), the provider of the voice 
        service of the subscriber shall ensure that any call the 
        provider receives for termination that is not associated with a 
        telephone number on the whitelist of the subscriber or the 
        telephone number of an exempt entity is processed according to 
        preferences set by the subscriber with respect to the 
        whitelist, including by limiting or disabling the ability of an 
        incoming call to connect with the CPE of the subscriber.
            ``(2) Safe harbor.--Whitelist processing that, in 
        accordance with the preferences of a subscriber, limits or 
        disables connection with the CPE of a subscriber shall not be 
        considered to be--
                    ``(A) blocking traffic; or
                    ``(B) an unjust or unreasonable practice under 
                section 201 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
                U.S.C. 201).
    ``(d) Number of Telephone Numbers on Whitelist Free of Charge.--
            ``(1) In general.--A provider of a voice service shall 
        allow a subscriber (or a designated representative thereof) to 
        designate not less than 10 telephone numbers to be on the 
        whitelist under subsection (b), free of charge.
            ``(2) Telephone numbers of exempt entities.--The telephone 
        number of an exempt entity shall not be considered to be on the 
        whitelist of a subscriber for purposes of calculating the 10 
        telephone numbers that may be designated under paragraph 
        (1).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 232 of the Communications Act of 1934, 
as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the date that is 2 
years after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. AUTHENTICATION OF CALL ORIGINATION.

    Part I of title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 201 
et seq.), as amended by section 2, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 233. AUTHENTICATION OF CALL ORIGINATION.

    ``(a) Definition.--In this section, 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 plan 
adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1).
    ``(b) Development of Authentication Standards by Commission.--Not 
later than 5 years after the date of enactment of the Phone Scam 
Prevention Act of 2014, the Commission shall develop authentication 
standards for providers of a voice service to validate the calling 
party number and caller identification information of a call originated 
through a voice service so that the subscriber receiving the call may 
obtain--
            ``(1) a secure assurance of the origin of the call, 
        including--
                    ``(A) the calling party number; and
                    ``(B) caller identification information for the 
                call; or
            ``(2) notice that an assurance described in paragraph (1) 
        is unavailable.
    ``(c) Adoption of Authentication Standards by Entities.--Each 
provider of a voice service that is allocated telephone numbers from 
the portion of the North American Numbering Plan that pertains to the 
United States shall adopt the authentication standards developed under 
subsection (b).''.

SEC. 4. EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING PROHIBITION ON INACCURATE CALLER ID 
              INFORMATION.

    (a) Communications From Outside the 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''.
    (b) Coverage of Text Messages and Other Voice Services.--Section 
227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``telecommunications 
        service or IP-enabled voice service'' and inserting ``voice 
        service (including a text message sent using a text messaging 
        service)'';
            (2) in the first sentence of subparagraph (B), by striking 
        ``telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service'' and 
        inserting ``voice service (including a text message sent using 
        a text messaging service)''; and
            (3) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(C) Text message.--The term `text message'--
                            ``(i) 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;
                            ``(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 plan adopted by the 
                Commission under section 251(e)(1).''.
    (c) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to modify, limit, or otherwise affect--
            (1) the authority, as of the day before the date of 
        enactment of this Act, of the Federal Communications Commission 
        to interpret the term ``call'' to include a text message (as 
        defined under section 227(e)(8) of the Communications Act of 
        1934, as added by subsection (b)); or
            (2) any rule or order adopted by the Federal Communications 
        Commission in connection with--
                    (A) the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 
                (Public Law 102-243; 105 Stat. 2394) or the amendments 
                made by that Act; or
                    (B) the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7701 et 
                seq.).
    (d) Regulations.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall 
prescribe regulations to implement the amendments made by this section.
    (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 under subsection (d).
                                 <all>
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