SECTION 1. Short title.

SEC. 2. Findings.

(1) The incidence of unwanted telephone calls and text messages is a nationwide nuisance.

(2) The Federal Trade Commission received almost 5,800,000 complaints about unwanted telephone calls in fiscal year 2018.

(3) Telephone scammers target vulnerable consumers, particularly the elderly.

(4) The national “do-not-call” registry has effectively addressed unwanted telephone calls from legitimate companies, but consumers continue to be subject to unwanted calls originating from sources outside the United States and illegitimate operators.

(5) Telemarketing fraud cost consumers an estimated $350,000,000 in 2011.

(6) Existing Federal law is inadequate to address this problem.

(7) Preventing unwanted telephone calls and text messages from reaching consumers requires 2 approaches:

(A) Identifying unwanted calls and text messages.

(B) Giving the consumers the ability to block or filter unwanted calls and text messages.

SEC. 3. Definitions.

(1) CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION; TEXT MESSAGE.—The terms “caller identification information” and “text message” have the meanings given those terms in section 227(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(a)), as amended by this Act.

(2) COMMISSION.—The term “Commission” means the Federal Communications Commission.

SEC. 4. Expanding and clarifying prohibition on misleading or inaccurate caller ID information.

(a) In general.—Section 227(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(4) TECHNOLOGY OFFERED BY PROVIDERS.—

“(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:

“(i) ORIGINATING PROVIDER.—The term ‘originating provider’ means a provider of a voice service or text messaging service that permits a subscriber to originate a call or text message that may be transmitted on the public switched telephone network.

“(ii) ORIGINATING SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘originating subscriber’ means a subscriber to a voice service or text messaging service that originates a call or text message that may be transmitted on the public switched telephone network.

“(iii) RECEIVING PROVIDER.—The term ‘receiving provider’ means a provider of a voice service or text messaging service that permits a subscriber to receive a call or text message originating, or that may be transmitted, on the public switched telephone network.

“(iv) RECEIVING SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘receiving subscriber’ means a subscriber to a voice service or text messaging service that receives, or is the intended recipient of, a call or text message originating, or that may be transmitted, on the public switched telephone network.

“(B) REQUIREMENTS TO OFFER TECHNOLOGY.—

“(i) ORIGINATING PROVIDERS.—The Commission shall by regulation establish technical and procedural standards to require an originating provider to enable, for each originating subscriber of the provider and for no additional charge, and to require the originating subscriber to use, technology that verifies, for any call or text message originated by the originating subscriber, that the caller identification information indicated for the call or text message accurately identifies the originating subscriber unless—

“(I) the call or text message is exempted, under regulations described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subsection (e)(3)(B), from the prohibition under subsection (e)(1); or

“(II) the originating subscriber requests that the originating provider not display caller identification that accurately identifies the originating subscriber for a call or text message originated by the originating subscriber, in which case the caller identification information shall state, ‘Caller ID Blocked’.

“(ii) RECEIVING PROVIDERS.—The Commission shall by regulation establish technical and procedural standards to require any receiving provider, for each receiving subscriber of the provider and for no additional charge—

“(I) to enable, and to offer to the receiving subscriber the option to disable, technology that—

“(aa) determines that an incoming call or text message is verified by the technology enabled in accordance with clause (i) as providing caller identification information in accordance with that clause, whether by—

“(AA) accurately identifying the originating subscriber that originated the call or text message;

“(BB) lawfully providing misleading or inaccurate caller identification; or

“(CC) displaying ‘Caller ID Blocked’; or

“(bb) if an incoming call or text message is not verified as described in item (aa), prevents the receiving subscriber from receiving the call or text message;

“(II) to offer to the receiving subscriber the option to enable technology that—

“(aa) identifies an incoming call or text message as originating or probably originating from an automatic telephone dialing system; and

“(bb) prevents the receiving subscriber from receiving a call or text message identified as described in item (aa) unless—

“(AA) the call or text message is made or sent by a public safety entity, including a public safety answering point (as defined in section 222(h)), emergency operations center, or law enforcement agency; or

“(BB) the receiving subscriber has provided prior express consent to receive the call or text message and has not revoked that consent; and

“(III) to offer to the receiving subscriber the ability to request that the receiving provider prevent the receiving subscriber from receiving calls and text messages originating from a particular originating subscriber.

“(C) COMMISSION OVERSIGHT.—

“(i) APPEALS PROCESS RELATING TO ALLEGED AUTODIALERS.—The standards established under subparagraph (B)(ii)(II) shall provide for an appeals process under which—

“(I) an originating subscriber may notify the Commission that the technology offered under that subparagraph by a receiving provider is—

“(aa) incorrectly identifying the calls or text messages of the originating subscriber as originating or probably originating from an automatic telephone dialing system; or

“(bb) preventing receiving subscribers from receiving calls or text messages originated by the originating subscriber that are permitted under item (bb) of that subparagraph;

“(II) if the Commission finds that the circumstance about which the originating subscriber notified the Commission exists, the Commission shall—

“(aa) notify the receiving provider of the finding; and

“(bb) take such action as is reasonably necessary to correct the circumstance; and

“(III) if the receiving provider is preventing a receiving subscriber from receiving calls or text messages originated by the originating subscriber because the receiving subscriber has requested that prevention, whether directly or through a call-blocking service, the Commission—

“(aa) may not require the receiving provider to stop preventing the calls or text messages unless the receiving subscriber provides affirmative consent; and

“(bb) shall require the receiving provider to notify the receiving subscriber of the existence of the circumstances described in subclause (II) of this clause.

“(ii) WHITELISTING.—

“(I) REQUEST.—An originating subscriber that offers essential services (referred to in this clause as an ‘essential services subscriber’) may request that the Commission require each receiving provider to allow receiving subscribers of the receiving provider to receive calls or text messages originating from the essential services subscriber.

“(II) GRANT.—If the Commission, through a rigorous vetting process using the unblocking system established under clause (iii), confirms the identity of an essential services subscriber described in subclause (I) of this clause, the Commission shall require each receiving provider to allow each receiving subscriber of the receiving provider to receive calls or text messages originating from the essential services subscriber unless the receiving subscriber has requested under subparagraph (B)(ii)(III) that the receiving provider prevent the receiving subscriber from receiving calls and text messages originating from that essential services subscriber.

“(III) DEFINITION OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES.—The Commission shall by regulation define the term ‘essential services’ for purposes of this clause.

“(iii) UNBLOCKING SYSTEM AND DATABASE.—

“(I) IN GENERAL.—In order to carry out this subparagraph and ensure that consumers are in control of the calls and text messages they receive, the Commission shall establish a nationwide unblocking system that includes a database, to be known as the ‘Unblocking Database’, of originating subscribers whose identity the Commission has confirmed under clause (ii)(II).

“(II) FUNDING.—The Commission shall—

“(aa) assess a fee on any originating subscriber that wishes to participate in the nationwide unblocking system; and

“(bb) use amounts collected under item (aa) to fund the operation of the nationwide unblocking system.

“(D) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—

“(i) IN GENERAL.—A person aggrieved by a violation of the regulations prescribed under clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (B) may bring an action in an appropriate district court of the United States, or, if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State, in an appropriate court of that State, to—

“(I) enjoin the violation; or

“(II) recover the greater of—

“(aa) actual damages; or

“(bb) $500 per violation.

“(ii) ENHANCED AWARDS.—If the court finds in an action brought under clause (i) that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated the regulations described in that clause, the court may increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 3 times the amount available under subclause (II) of that clause.

“(E) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—

“(i) PREVENTION OF CALLS OR TEXT MESSAGES.—For purposes of a regulation prescribed under this paragraph, a call or text message attempted to be made or sent to a receiving subscriber shall be considered to be prevented if, in accordance with the express consent of the receiving subscriber, the call or text message is recorded or redirected in a manner that allows the receiving subscriber to—

“(I) be notified of the attempt to make the call or send the text message; or

“(II) have access to—

“(aa) a message left by the calling party; or

“(bb) the text message.

“(ii) BLOCKING CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.—Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to require an originating provider to prevent or restrict any person from blocking the capability of any caller identification service to transmit caller identification information.”.

(b) Exemptions from misleading or inaccurate caller ID prohibition.—Section 227(e)(3)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(3)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(iii) EXEMPTION PROCESS FOR LEGITIMATE NEED.—The regulations required under subparagraph (A) shall provide for a process under which a person may demonstrate that the person has a legitimate need to provide misleading or inaccurate information for certain calls or text messages, such as a call made or text message sent to conduct an activity of a domestic violence shelter or medical practice.”.

(c) Actions by States.—Section 227(g)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(g)(1)) is amended—

(1) by inserting after “regulations prescribed under this section,” the following: “a pattern or practice of failure to provide the technology required under subsection (d)(4)(B)(i) that threatens or adversely affects an interest of such residents, or a pattern or practice of failure to provide to such residents the technology or the options, as applicable, required under subsection (d)(4)(B)(ii),”; and

(2) by inserting after “to enjoin such calls” the following: “or such a failure”.

(d) Regulations.—The Commission shall prescribe the regulations required under the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

(e) Effective date.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date on which the Commission prescribes regulations under subsection (d).

SEC. 6. Intentional interference with call-blocking technology.

SEC. 7. Rule of construction.

SEC. 8. Reports to Congress.