House reveals bipartisan anti-robocall bill
Somebody needs to stop these robocallers.
The US government continues to try and stop the scourge of robocalls affecting millions of phone users. In May, the Senate passed an anti-robocall bill and now the House has its own bipartisan bill to combat the phone menace.
Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey and Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Greg Walden, a Republican from Oregon, introduced a bipartisan version of the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act to the House of Representative on Thursday. The bill would require carriers to implement technology to validate numbers shown on caller ID and allow the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to go after companies responsible for robocalls.
"It's time we end the robocall epidemic and restore trust back into our phone system," Rep. Pallone and Walden said in a release. "Americans should be able to block robocalls in a consistent and transparent way without being charged extra for it. Our legislation also gives the FCC and law enforcement the authority to enforce the law and quickly go after scammers."
The bill will require carriers to improve caller ID to eliminate fake numbers that give an appearance that the call is local, also known as spoofing, and off call blocking services to customers for free. The FCC will also have the authority to track down and take action against robocallers.
The next step is for the bill to make its way through the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee sometime next week.