I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4932 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to expand and clarify the prohibi-
tion on inaccurate caller identification information and to require pro-
viders of telephone service to offer technology to subscribers to reduce 
the incidence of unwanted telephone calls, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 13, 2016 
Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) 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 inaccurate caller identification 
information and to require providers of telephone service 
to offer technology to subscribers to reduce the incidence 
of unwanted telephone calls, 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 ‘‘Repeated Objectionable 
Bothering of Consumers on Phones Act’’ or the 
‘‘ROBOCOP Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The incidence of unwanted telephone calls is 
a nationwide nuisance. 
(2) In 2015, the Federal Trade Commission re-
ceived over 3.5 million complaints about such calls. 
(3) Telephone scammers target vulnerable con-
sumers, particularly the elderly. 
(4) The national ‘‘do-not-call’’ registry has ef-
fectively addressed unwanted telephone calls from le-
gitimate companies, but consumers continue to be 
subject to unwanted calls originating from sources 
outside the United States and illegitimate operators. 
(5) Such calls cost consumers an estimated 
$350 million in 2011. 
(6) Existing Federal law is inadequate to ad-
dress this problem. 
(7) Preventing such calls from reaching con-
sumers requires two approaches: 
(A) Identifying unwanted calls. 
(B) Giving the consumers the ability to 
block or filter such calls. 
SEC. 3. EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING PROHIBITION ON IN-
ACCURATE CALLER ID INFORMATION. 
(a) COMMUNICATIONS
FROM
OUTSIDE
UNITED 
STATES.—Section 227(e)(1) of the Communications Act 
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‘‘(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 telecommuni-
cations service or an IP-enabled voice service.’’. 
(c) 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. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply beginning on the date that is 180 
days after the date on which the Federal Communications 
Commission prescribes regulations to implement the 
amendments made by this section. 
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SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 227(d) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(d)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) TECHNOLOGY OFFERED BY PROVIDERS.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS
TO
OFFER
TECH-
NOLOGY.—The Commission shall prescribe reg-
ulations setting forth technical and procedural 
standards— 
‘‘(i) to require any originating pro-
vider to enable, for each subscriber of such 
provider and for no additional charge, 
technology that verifies, for any telephone 
call originated by such subscriber, that the 
caller identification information indicated 
for such call accurately identifies such sub-
scriber, or that— 
‘‘(I) the subscriber establishes a 
legitimate need, through the process 
described in subparagraph (B), to 
provide misleading or inaccurate in-
formation for certain calls, such as for 
a call made to conduct an activity of 
a domestic violence shelter or a med-
ical practice; or 
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‘‘(II) the call is exempted, pursu-
ant to the authority granted to the 
Commission 
by 
subsection 
(e)(3)(B)(ii), from the prohibition 
under subsection (e)(1); and 
‘‘(ii) to require any receiving provider, 
for each subscriber of such provider and 
for no additional charge— 
‘‘(I) to enable, and to offer the 
option to disable, technology that— 
‘‘(aa) determines that an in-
coming telephone call is verified 
by the technology enabled in ac-
cordance with clause (i) as pro-
viding caller identification infor-
mation that accurately identifies 
the person originating the call; or 
‘‘(bb) 
prevents 
the 
sub-
scriber from receiving such a call; 
and 
‘‘(II) to offer the option to enable 
technology that— 
‘‘(aa) identifies an incoming 
telephone call as originating or 
probably originating from an 
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automatic telephone dialing sys-
tem or as using or probably using 
an artificial or prerecorded voice; 
and 
‘‘(bb) 
prevents 
the 
sub-
scriber from receiving such a call 
unless the call is made by a pub-
lic safety entity, including public 
safety answering points as de-
fined in section 222(h), emer-
gency operations centers, or law 
enforcement agencies, or unless 
the subscriber provides prior ex-
press consent to receive the call. 
‘‘(B) EXEMPTION
PROCESS.—The stand-
ards established under subparagraph (A)(i) 
shall provide for a process by which— 
‘‘(i) a subscriber may demonstrate to 
the originating provider that— 
‘‘(I) such subscriber has a legiti-
mate need, in accordance with sub-
clause (I) of such subparagraph, to 
provide misleading or inaccurate caller 
identification information for certain 
calls; or 
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‘‘(II) some or all of the calls of 
such subscriber are exempted, pursu-
ant to the authority granted to the 
Commission 
by 
subsection 
(e)(3)(B)(ii), from the prohibition 
under subsection (e)(1); and 
‘‘(ii) the originating provider shall en-
sure, if the provider makes a favorable de-
termination with respect to the calls de-
scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of clause 
(i), that the technology enabled under sub-
paragraph (A)(i) verifies such calls as orig-
inating from such subscriber. 
‘‘(C) APPEALS
PROCESS.—The standards 
established under subparagraph (A)(ii)(II) shall 
provide for an appeals process by which— 
‘‘(i) a person may notify a receiving 
provider that the technology offered under 
such subparagraph by the provider is— 
‘‘(I) incorrectly identifying the 
telephone calls of such person as orig-
inating or probably originating from 
an automatic telephone dialing system 
or as using or probably using an arti-
ficial or prerecorded voice; or 
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‘‘(II) preventing subscribers from 
receiving calls originated by such per-
son that are permitted in accordance 
with item (bb) of such subparagraph; 
and 
‘‘(ii) the receiving provider so notified 
shall, if such provider finds that the cir-
cumstance about which the person notified 
the provider under clause (i) exists, take 
such action as is reasonably necessary to 
correct such circumstance. 
‘‘(D) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—A person may 
bring, in an appropriate district court of 
the United States, or, if otherwise per-
mitted by the laws or rules of court of a 
State, in an appropriate court of that 
State— 
‘‘(I) an action based on a viola-
tion of the regulations prescribed 
under clause (i) or (ii) of subpara-
graph (A) to enjoin such violation; 
‘‘(II) an action to recover for ac-
tual monetary loss from such a viola-
tion, or to receive $500 in damages 
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