I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4943 
To prohibit fraudulent access to telephone records. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 14, 2006 
Mr. BARTON of Texas (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. UPTON, Mr. MARKEY, 
Mr. STEARNS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. GENE GREEN of 
Texas, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. ROSS, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. 
BROWN of Ohio, Mr. FOSSELLA, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BUYER, Mrs. CAPPS, 
Mrs. BONO, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. BUR-
GESS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. GORDON, Mr. INSLEE, 
Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. LIPINSKI, and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To prohibit fraudulent access to telephone records. 
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 ‘‘Prevention of Fraudu-
lent Access to Phone Records Act’’. 
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TITLE I—FEDERAL TRADE 
COMMISSION PROVISIONS 
SEC. 101. FRAUDULENT ACCESS TO CUSTOMER TELE-
PHONE RECORDS. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON OBTAINING CUSTOMER INFOR-
MATION BY FALSE PRETENSES.—It shall be unlawful for 
any person to obtain or attempt to obtain, or cause to 
be disclosed or attempt to cause to be disclosed to any 
person, customer proprietary network information relating 
to any other person by— 
(1) making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent 
statement or representation to an officer, employee, 
or agent of a telecommunications carrier; or 
(2) providing any document or other informa-
tion to an officer, employee, or agent of a tele-
communications carrier that the person knows or 
should know to be forged, counterfeit, lost, stolen, or 
fraudulently obtained, or to contain a false, ficti-
tious, or fraudulent statement or representation. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON SOLICITATION OF A PERSON TO 
OBTAIN CUSTOMER INFORMATION UNDER FALSE PRE-
TENSES.—It shall be unlawful to request a person to ob-
tain from a telecommunications carrier customer propri-
etary network information relating to any third person, 
if the person making such a request knew or should have 
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known that the person to whom such a request is made 
will obtain or attempt to obtain such information in the 
manner described in subsection (a). 
(c) PROHIBITION ON SALE OR OTHER DISCLOSURE 
OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION OBTAINED UNDER FALSE 
PRETENSES.—It shall be unlawful for any person to sell 
or otherwise disclose to any person customer proprietary 
network information relating to any other person if the 
person selling or disclosing obtained such information in 
the manner described in subsection (a). 
SEC. 102. EXEMPTION. 
No provision of section 101 shall be construed so as 
to prevent any action by a law enforcement agency, or any 
officer, employee, or agent of such agency, from obtaining 
or attempting to obtain customer proprietary network in-
formation from a telecommunications carrier in connection 
with the performance of the official duties of the agency, 
in accordance with other applicable laws. 
SEC. 103. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COM-
MISSION. 
A violation of section 101 shall be treated as a viola-
tion of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or prac-
tice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The 
Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this title in the 
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same manner, by the same means, and with the same ju-
risdiction as though all applicable terms and provisions of 
the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated into 
and made a part of this title. 
SEC. 104. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this title— 
(1) the term ‘‘customer proprietary network in-
formation’’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 222(j)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 222(j)(1)) (as redesignated by section 
203 of this Act); 
(2) the term ‘‘telecommunications carrier’’— 
(A) has the meaning given such term in 
section 3(44) of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(44)); and 
(B) includes any provider of real-time 
Internet protocol-enabled voice communications; 
and 
(3) the term ‘‘real-time Internet protocol-en-
abled voice communications’’ means any service that 
is treated by the Federal Communications Commis-
sion as a telecommunications service provided by a 
telecommunications carrier for purposes of section 
222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
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222) under regulations promulgated pursuant to 
subsection (h) of such section. 
TITLE 
II—FEDERAL 
COMMU-
NICATIONS 
COMMISSION 
PROVISIONS 
SEC. 201. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) As our Nation’s communications networks 
become more ubiquitous and increasingly sophisti-
cated, more individuals and industries will be using 
such networks in greater amounts to communicate 
and conduct commercial transactions. 
(2) The ease of gathering and compiling sen-
sitive personal information as a result of such com-
munications is becoming more efficient and common-
place due to advances in digital technology and the 
widespread use of the Internet. 
(3) Ensuring the privacy of sensitive individual 
telephone calling records, both wireline and wireless, 
is of utmost importance. The information gathered 
and retained by communications providers can con-
vey details about intimate aspects of an individual’s 
life, including who they call, when they call, the du-
ration of such calls, the frequency of their commu-
nications, information about their purchases, infor-
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