Title: Robocall Trace Back Enhancement Act
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Robocall Trace Back Enhancement Act
This bill provides liability protection for specified information-sharing activities undertaken to trace the origins of unlawful robocalls, illegally spoofed calls, and other illegal calls.
Specifically, the bill protects a designated consortium that conducts private-led efforts to trace unlawful robocalls from liability for receiving, sharing, or publishing information about illegal calls, including their origin or source. The bill also applies liability protection to a voice service provider (i.e., a provider of any service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications) or other entity or person that shares information with the consortium.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3335 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3335

    To provide liability protection for the sharing of information 
    regarding suspected fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful robocalls, 
    illegally spoofed calls, and other illegal calls by or with the 
 registered consortium that conducts private-led efforts to trace back 
the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, and for the receipt of such 
   information by that registered consortium, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 8, 2021

 Mr. Thune (for himself and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide liability protection for the sharing of information 
    regarding suspected fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful robocalls, 
    illegally spoofed calls, and other illegal calls by or with the 
 registered consortium that conducts private-led efforts to trace back 
the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, and for the receipt of such 
   information by that registered consortium, 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 ``Robocall Trace Back Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. REGISTERED CONSORTIUM CONDUCTING PRIVATE-LED EFFORTS TO TRACE 
              BACK THE ORIGIN OF SUSPECTED UNLAWFUL ROBOCALLS.

    (a) Immunity for Receiving, Sharing, and Publishing Trace Back 
Information.--Section 13(d) of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall 
Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (Public Law 116-105; 133 
Stat. 3287) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Immunity for receiving, sharing, and publishing trace 
        back information.--
                    ``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `covered information'--
                            ``(i) means information regarding 
                        suspected--
                                    ``(I) fraudulent, abusive, or 
                                unlawful robocalls;
                                    ``(II) illegally spoofed calls; and
                                    ``(III) other illegal calls; and
                            ``(ii) includes--
                                    ``(I) call detail records of calls 
                                described in clause (i);
                                    ``(II) the names of, and other 
                                identifying information concerning, the 
                                voice service providers that 
                                originated, carried, routed, and 
                                transmitted calls described in clause 
                                (i); and
                                    ``(III) information about the 
                                entities that made calls described in 
                                clause (i), including any contact 
                                information of individuals that such an 
                                entity provided to the voice service 
                                provider that originated the call.
                    ``(B) Trace back immunity.--No cause of action 
                shall lie or be maintained in any court against--
                            ``(i) the registered consortium for 
                        receiving, sharing, or publishing covered 
                        information or information derived from covered 
                        information; or
                            ``(ii) any voice service provider or other 
                        person or entity for sharing covered 
                        information with the registered consortium.
                    ``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in 
                subparagraph (B)(ii) shall be construed to provide 
                immunity for any act other than the act of sharing 
                covered information with the registered consortium.''.
    (b) Publication of List of Voice Service Providers.--Section 13(e) 
of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and 
Deterrence Act (Public Law 116-105; 133 Stat. 3287) is amended to read 
as follows:
    ``(e) List of Voice Service Providers.--
            ``(1) Publication of list.--The Commission, or the 
        registered consortium in consultation with the Commission, may 
        publish a list of voice service providers based on--
                    ``(A) information obtained by the consortium about 
                voice service providers that refuse to participate in 
                private-led efforts to trace back the origin of 
                suspected unlawful robocalls; and
                    ``(B) other information the Commission or the 
                consortium may collect about voice service providers 
                that are found to originate or transmit substantial 
                amounts of unlawful robocalls.
            ``(2) Enforcement.--The Commission may take enforcement 
        action based on the information described in paragraph (1).''.
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