Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act

Economic Questions: 

• Does the bill allow flexibility to change techniques as robo-callers inevitably find ways around the new rules?

• What is the business model of robocall criminals, and will criminal enforcement fix the problem?

• Should the window for intentional violations be longer than three years?

Summary: Introduced by Sen. Thune (R-SD). A summary of the Act is as follows:

• Gives the FCC authority to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call on people who intentionally ignore telemarketing restrictions.

• Increases the window for FCC to catch and take action against intentional violations to three years after the robocall is placed (currently, the FCC has a one year statute).

• Encourages coordination between the relevant federal agencies, state AGs, and non-federal entities to identify and report to Congress on criminal prosecution of robocall scams at state and federal level.

• Requires voice service providers to adopt call authentication technologies, which can legitimize a call before it comes to the consumer’s phone.

• Directs FCC to create better rules to protect subscribers from receiving unwanted calls. 

Supporters on both sides of the aisle agree that the increasing amount of robocalls are an extreme nuisance and threat to consumer protection. It is currently supported by AGs in all 50 states, commissioners at the FTC and FCC, and other consumer groups. 

The FCC has also introduced an agency initiative to address robocalls, which would allow carriers to automatically register customers to call-blocking technology and block calls coming from numbers not recognized by the carriers.

References and Further Reading:

Senate Overwhelmingly Approves Thune, Markey Bill to Crack Down on Annoying, Illegal, and Abusive Robocalls

U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member and former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and current chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, Ed Markey (D-Mass.), also a member of the Commerce Committee and author of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), current chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, issued the following statements after the Senate overwhelmingly approved their bipartisan Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act (S.

Senate Passes TRACED Act To Enhance TCPA Enforcement Power

On May 23, 2019, the U.S. Senate approved the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence ("TRACED") Act by an overwhelming 97-1 vote. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only senator to vote against the bill. The bi-partisan bill was originally introduced in November of 2018 by U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.)

The Senate votes to approve anti-robocalling bill

On Thursday, the Senate voted to approve a bill creating new carve-outs for the Federal Communications Commission to better combat the growing scourge of robocalls by an overwhelming 97-1 vote. A bipartisan proposal, the TRACED Act, was introduced by Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Ed Markey (D-MA).

Ajit Pai proposes new rule that would allow carriers to block robocalls

The new rule would require carriers, like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, to automatically register their customers for call-blocking technology. As of right now, customers have to opt-in on their own. FCC commissioners are expected to vote on the measure at their June 6th meeting.