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.
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]
[H.R. 7598 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7598

     To amend the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal 
Enforcement and Deterrence Act to provide liability protection for the 
  sharing of information regarding suspected unlawful robocalls 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 such registered consortium, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2022

   Mr. Latta (for himself, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
 Curtis, and Mr. O'Halleran) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal 
Enforcement and Deterrence Act to provide liability protection for the 
  sharing of information regarding suspected unlawful robocalls 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 such 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) Trace back immunity.--No cause of action 
                shall lie or be maintained in any court against--
                            ``(i) the registered consortium for 
                        receiving or sharing, or publishing as 
                        permitted by subsection (e), covered 
                        information or information derived from covered 
                        information; or
                            ``(ii) any voice service provider or other 
                        person for sharing covered information with the 
                        registered consortium.
                    ``(B) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `covered information'--
                            ``(i) means information regarding a 
                        suspected unlawful robocall; and
                            ``(ii) includes--
                                    ``(I) call detail records of a 
                                suspected unlawful robocall;
                                    ``(II) the name of, and other 
                                identifying information concerning, a 
                                voice service provider that originated, 
                                carried, or routed a suspected unlawful 
                                robocall; and
                                    ``(III) information about the 
                                person who made a suspected unlawful 
                                robocall, including any contact 
                                information of an individual that such 
                                person provided to the voice service 
                                provider that originated the call.''.
    (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. 3288) 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, carry, or route 
                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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