I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 423 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand and clarify the prohibi-
tion on provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identification informa-
tion, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 10, 2017 
Ms. MENG (for herself, Mr. BARTON, and Mr. LANCE) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand and 
clarify the prohibition on provision of misleading or inac-
curate caller identification information, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Spoofing Act of 
2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. SPOOFING PREVENTION. 
(a) EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING PROHIBITION ON 
MISLEADING OR INACCURATE CALLER IDENTIFICATION 
INFORMATION.— 
(1) COMMUNICATIONS
FROM
OUTSIDE
THE 
UNITED STATES.—Section 227(e)(1) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘in connection with any tele-
communications service or IP-enabled voice service’’ 
and inserting ‘‘or any person outside the United 
States if the recipient is within the United States, 
in connection with any voice service or text mes-
saging service’’. 
(2) COVERAGE OF TEXT MESSAGES AND VOICE 
SERVICES.—Section 227(e)(8) of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) is amend-
ed— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘tele-
communications service or IP-enabled voice 
service’’ and inserting ‘‘voice service or a text 
message sent using a text messaging service’’; 
(B) 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 mes-
saging service’’; and 
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(C) by striking subparagraph (C) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(C) TEXT
MESSAGE.—The term ‘text 
message’— 
‘‘(i) means a message consisting of 
text, images, sounds, or other information 
that is transmitted to or from a device that 
is identified as the receiving or transmit-
ting device by means of a 10-digit tele-
phone number or N11 service code; 
‘‘(ii) includes a short message service 
(commonly referred to as ‘SMS’) message 
and a multimedia message service (com-
monly referred to as ‘MMS’) message; and 
‘‘(iii) does not include— 
‘‘(I) a real-time, two way voice or 
video communication; or 
‘‘(II) a message sent over an IP- 
enabled messaging service to another 
user of the same messaging service, 
except a message described in clause 
(ii). 
‘‘(D) TEXT
MESSAGING
SERVICE.—The 
term ‘text messaging service’ means a service 
that enables the transmission or receipt of a 
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text message, including a service provided as 
part of or in connection with a voice service. 
‘‘(E) VOICE
SERVICE.—The term ‘voice 
service’— 
‘‘(i) means any service that is inter-
connected with the public switched tele-
phone network and that furnishes voice 
communications to an end user using re-
sources from the North American Num-
bering Plan or any successor to the North 
American Numbering Plan adopted by the 
Commission under section 251(e)(1); and 
‘‘(ii) includes transmissions from a 
telephone facsimile machine, computer, or 
other device to a telephone facsimile ma-
chine.’’. 
(3) 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’’. 
(4) REGULATIONS.— 
(A) 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 
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of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, the 
Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘The Commission’’. 
(B) DEADLINE.—The Commission shall 
prescribe regulations to implement the amend-
ments made by this subsection not later than 
18 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall take effect on the date that 
is 6 months after the date on which the Commission 
prescribes regulations under paragraph (4). 
(b) CONSUMER EDUCATION MATERIALS ON HOW TO 
AVOID SCAMS THAT RELY UPON MISLEADING OR INAC-
CURATE CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 
(1) DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIALS.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Commission, in coordination with the Federal 
Trade Commission, shall develop consumer edu-
cation materials that provide information about— 
(A) ways for consumers to identify scams 
and other fraudulent activity that rely upon the 
use of misleading or inaccurate caller identifica-
tion information; and 
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(B) existing technologies, if any, that a 
consumer can use to protect against such scams 
and other fraudulent activity. 
(2) CONTENTS.—In developing the consumer 
education materials under paragraph (1), the Com-
mission shall— 
(A) identify existing technologies, if any, 
that can help consumers guard themselves 
against scams and other fraudulent activity 
that rely upon the use of misleading or inac-
curate caller identification information, includ-
ing— 
(i) descriptions of how a consumer 
can use the technologies to protect against 
such scams and other fraudulent activity; 
and 
(ii) details on how consumers can ac-
cess and use the technologies; and 
(B) provide other information that may 
help consumers identify and avoid scams and 
other fraudulent activity that rely upon the use 
of misleading or inaccurate caller identification 
information. 
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(3) UPDATES.—The Commission shall ensure 
that the consumer education materials required 
under paragraph (1) are updated on a regular basis. 
(4) WEBSITE.—The Commission shall include 
the consumer education materials developed under 
paragraph (1) on its website. 
(c) GAO REPORT ON COMBATING THE FRAUDULENT 
PROVISION
OF MISLEADING
OR INACCURATE CALLER 
IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a study of the ac-
tions the Commission and the Federal Trade Com-
mission have taken to combat the fraudulent provi-
sion of misleading or inaccurate caller identification 
information, and the additional measures that could 
be taken to combat such activity. 
(2) 
REQUIRED
CONSIDERATIONS.—In 
con-
ducting the study under paragraph (1), the Comp-
troller General shall examine— 
(A) trends in the types of scams that rely 
on misleading or inaccurate caller identification 
information; 
(B) previous and current enforcement ac-
tions by the Commission and the Federal Trade 
Commission to combat the practices prohibited 
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by section 227(e)(1) of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1)); 
(C) 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 in-
formation, and how such standards may help 
combat the current and future provision of mis-
leading or inaccurate caller identification infor-
mation; and 
(D) whether there are additional actions 
the Commission, the Federal Trade Commis-
sion, and Congress should take to combat the 
fraudulent provision of misleading or inaccurate 
caller identification information. 
(3) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General shall submit to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate a report on the findings of 
the study under paragraph (1), including any rec-
ommendations regarding combating the fraudulent 
provision of misleading or inaccurate caller identi-
fication information. 
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