Yesterday, the Senate passed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) that would crackdown on robocalls by giving regulators more time to find scammers, increases civil forfeiture penalties for those caught, promotes call authentication and blocking adoption, and brings relevant federal agencies and state attorneys general together to address impediments to criminal prosecution of robocallers who intentionally flout laws.
“Virtually every North Carolinian knows what it’s like to be harassed with an endless barrage of robocalls,” said Senator Tillis. “I am proud the Senate overwhelmingly passed this bipartisan legislation that will crackdown on illegal robocalls, and I am confident this legislation will pass the House and be signed into law soon.”
Summary of the TRACED Act:
“Virtually every North Carolinian knows what it’s like to be harassed with an endless barrage of robocalls,” said Senator Tillis. “I am proud the Senate overwhelmingly passed this bipartisan legislation that will crackdown on illegal robocalls, and I am confident this legislation will pass the House and be signed into law soon.”
Summary of the TRACED Act:
- Broadens the authority of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call who intentionally flout telemarketing restrictions.
- Extends the window for the FCC to catch and take civil enforcement action against intentional violations to three years after a robocall is placed. Under current law, the FCC has only one year to do so, and the FCC has told the committee that “even a one-year longer statute of limitations for enforcement” would improve enforcement against willful violators.
- Brings together the Department of Justice, FCC, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Commerce, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other relevant federal agencies as well as state attorneys general and other non-federal entities to identify and report to Congress on improving deterrence and criminal prosecution at the federal and state level of robocall scams.
- Requires providers of voice services to adopt call authentication technologies, enabling a telephone carrier to verify that incoming calls are legitimate before they reach consumers’ phones.
- Directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking to help protect subscribers from receiving unwanted calls or texts from callers using unauthenticated numbers.
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