[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 30 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.30
One Hundred Eleventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten
An Act
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit manipulation of
caller identification information.
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 ``Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION REGARDING MANIPULATION OF CALLER IDENTIFICATION
INFORMATION.
Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) as
subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new
subsection:
``(e) Prohibition on Provision of Inaccurate Caller Identification
Information.--
``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any person within
the United States, in connection with any telecommunications
service or IP-enabled voice service, to cause any caller
identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or
inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to
defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value, unless
such transmission is exempted pursuant to paragraph (3)(B).
``(2) Protection for blocking caller identification
information.--Nothing in this subsection may be construed to
prevent or restrict any person from blocking the capability of any
caller identification service to transmit caller identification
information.
``(3) Regulations.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date
of enactment of the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, the
Commission shall prescribe regulations to implement this
subsection.
``(B) Content of regulations.--
``(i) In general.--The regulations required under
subparagraph (A) shall include such exemptions from the
prohibition under paragraph (1) as the Commission
determines is appropriate.
``(ii) Specific exemption for law enforcement agencies
or court orders.--The regulations required under
subparagraph (A) shall exempt from the prohibition under
paragraph (1) transmissions in connection with--
``(I) any authorized activity of a law enforcement
agency; or
``(II) a court order that specifically authorizes
the use of caller identification manipulation.
``(4) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the enactment of
the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, the Commission shall report to
Congress whether additional legislation is necessary to prohibit
the provision of inaccurate caller identification information in
technologies that are successor or replacement technologies to
telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service.
``(5) Penalties.--
``(A) Civil forfeiture.--
``(i) In general.--Any person that is determined by the
Commission, in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of
section 503(b), to have violated this subsection shall be
liable to the United States for a forfeiture penalty. A
forfeiture penalty under this paragraph shall be in
addition to any other penalty provided for by this Act. The
amount of the forfeiture penalty determined under this
paragraph shall not exceed $10,000 for each violation, or 3
times that amount for each day of a continuing violation,
except that the amount assessed for any continuing
violation shall not exceed a total of $1,000,000 for any
single act or failure to act.
``(ii) Recovery.--Any forfeiture penalty determined
under clause (i) shall be recoverable pursuant to section
504(a).
``(iii) Procedure.--No forfeiture liability shall be
determined under clause (i) against any person unless such
person receives the notice required by section 503(b)(3) or
section 503(b)(4).
``(iv) 2-year statute of limitations.--No forfeiture
penalty shall be determined or imposed against any person
under clause (i) if the violation charged occurred more
than 2 years prior to the date of issuance of the required
notice or notice or apparent liability.
``(B) Criminal fine.--Any person who willfully and
knowingly violates this subsection shall upon conviction
thereof be fined not more than $10,000 for each violation, or 3
times that amount for each day of a continuing violation, in
lieu of the fine provided by section 501 for such a violation.
This subparagraph does not supersede the provisions of section
501 relating to imprisonment or the imposition of a penalty of
both fine and imprisonment.
``(6) Enforcement by states.--
``(A) In general.--The chief legal officer of a State, or
any other State officer authorized by law to bring actions on
behalf of the residents of a State, may bring a civil action,
as parens patriae, on behalf of the residents of that State in
an appropriate district court of the United States to enforce
this subsection or to impose the civil penalties for violation
of this subsection, whenever the chief legal officer or other
State officer has reason to believe that the interests of the
residents of the State have been or are being threatened or
adversely affected by a violation of this subsection or a
regulation under this subsection.
``(B) Notice.--The chief legal officer or other State
officer shall serve written notice on the Commission of any
civil action under subparagraph (A) prior to initiating such
civil action. The notice shall include a copy of the complaint
to be filed to initiate such civil action, except that if it is
not feasible for the State to provide such prior notice, the
State shall provide such notice immediately upon instituting
such civil action.
``(C) Authority to intervene.--Upon receiving the notice
required by subparagraph (B), the Commission shall have the
right--
``(i) to intervene in the action;
``(ii) upon so intervening, to be heard on all matters
arising therein; and
``(iii) to file petitions for appeal.
``(D) Construction.--For purposes of bringing any civil
action under subparagraph (A), nothing in this paragraph shall
prevent the chief legal officer or other State officer from
exercising the powers conferred on that officer by the laws of
such State to conduct investigations or to administer oaths or
affirmations or to compel the attendance of witnesses or the
production of documentary and other evidence.
``(E) Venue; service or process.--
``(i) Venue.--An action brought under subparagraph (A)
shall be brought in a district court of the United States
that meets applicable requirements relating to venue under
section 1391 of title 28, United States Code.
``(ii) Service of process.--In an action brought under
subparagraph (A)--
``(I) process may be served without regard to the
territorial limits of the district or of the State in
which the action is instituted; and
``(II) a person who participated in an alleged
violation that is being litigated in the civil action
may be joined in the civil action without regard to the
residence of the person.
``(7) Effect on other laws.--This subsection does not prohibit
any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence
activity of a law enforcement agency of the United States, a State,
or a political subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agency
of the United States.
``(8) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
``(A) Caller identification information.--The term `caller
identification information' means information provided by a
caller identification service regarding the telephone number
of, or other information regarding the origination of, a call
made using a telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice
service.
``(B) Caller identification service.--The term `caller
identification service' means any service or device designed to
provide the user of the service or device with the telephone
number of, or other information regarding the origination of, a
call made using a telecommunications service or IP-enabled
voice service. Such term includes automatic number
identification services.
``(C) IP-enabled voice service.--The term `IP-enabled voice
service' has the meaning given that term by section 9.3 of the
Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R. 9.3), as those regulations
may be amended by the Commission from time to time.
``(9) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this
section, subsection (f) shall not apply to this subsection or to
the regulations under this subsection.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.