STOP Robocalls Act

Bill: 116-hr-2386
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Latta, Robert E. [R-OH-5]
Introduced: 2019-04-29
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Business records

Congressional oversight

Consumer affairs

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Government information and archives

Government studies and investigations

Internet and video services

Internet, web applications, social media

Telephone and wireless communication
Latest action: action_date: 2019-04-30
text: Subcommittee Hearings Held.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-04-29
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Support Tools to Obliterate Pesky Robocalls Act or the STOP Robocalls Act</b></p> <p>This bill provides measures to eliminate unlawful robocalls.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a streamlined process whereby a private entity may voluntarily share information about unlawful robocalls or text messages and unlawful caller identification spoofing. In addition, the bill authorizes a telecommunications company to provide a free, opt-in robocall blocking service to its customers.</p> <p>The FCC must also study and report on whether a Voice Over Internet Protocol service should be required to provide the FCC with its contact information and retain records of all calls transmitted over the service.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2386 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 29, 2019 Mr. Latta (for himself and Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for information sharing regarding robocall and spoofing violations, to authorize the provision of a robocall blocking service with opt-out customer approval, and to provide for a study on information requirements for certain VoIP service providers.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Support Tools to Obliterate Pesky Robocalls Act or the STOP Robocalls Act . 2. Information sharing regarding robocall and spoofing violations Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 227 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (i) Information sharing Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall promulgate regulations to establish a process that streamlines the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with the Commission information relating to— (1) a call made or a text message sent in violation of subsection (b); or (2) a call or text message for which misleading or inaccurate caller identification information was caused to be transmitted in violation of subsection (e). . 3. Robocall blocking service with opt-out customer approval Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 227 ), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following: (j) Robocall blocking service with opt-Out customer approval (1) In general A voice service provider may provide a robocall blocking service to a customer on an informed opt-out basis if the provider does not charge a fee in exchange for such service. (2) Rules of construction (A) Informed opt-in basis Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a voice service provider from providing a robocall blocking service to customers on an informed opt-in basis, whether or not in exchange for a fee. (B) Blocking calls without customer consent Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a voice service provider from blocking calls without customer consent as provided by rule or order of the Commission. (3) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Robocall blocking service The term robocall blocking service means a service or technology that enables a voice service customer to avoid receiving calls made in violation of subsection (b). (B) Voice service The term voice service has the meaning given such term in subsection (e)(8). This subparagraph shall apply before the effective date of the amendment made to such subsection by subparagraph (C) of section 503(a)(2) of division P of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 ( Public Law 115–141 ) as if such amendment was already in effect. . 4. Study on information requirements for certain VoIP service providers (a) In general The Federal Communications Commission shall conduct a study regarding whether to require a provider of covered VoIP service to— (1) provide to the Commission contact information for such provider and keep such information current; and (2) retain records relating to each call transmitted over the covered VoIP service of such provider that are sufficient to trace such call back to the source of such call. (b) Report to Congress Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the study conducted under subsection (a). (c) Covered VoIP service defined In this section, the term covered VoIP service means a service that— (1) is an interconnected VoIP service (as defined in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 153 )); or (2) would be an interconnected VoIP service (as so defined) except that the service permits users to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network but does not permit users to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network.