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Caller ID Spoofing to be Made Illegal
By jonathan | June 29, 2007
Just saw a very interesting article come across my RSS feed from Slashdot. Senate Bill S. 704 is currently being entertained in a Congressional subcommittee right now. This bill serves as an amendment to The Communications Act of 1934 that would make “manipulation of caller identification information” illegal. This means services like SpoofCard and FoneFaker would quickly become illegal. Illegal at a cost of up to $10,000 per violation.
This amendment was introduced in February of this year by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and is known as the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007. The summary is as follows:
Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make it unlawful for any person in the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or Internet protocol (IP)-enabled voice service, to cause any caller identification (ID) service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information, unless such transmission is exempted in connection with: (1) authorized activities of law enforcement agencies; or (2) a court order specifically authorizing the use of caller ID manipulation.
Provides civil and criminal penalties for violations. Allows for enforcement by states (with authorized intervention by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)).
While this piece of legislation isn’t a really big blow to privacy or a violation of our civil liberties or freedoms, it does raise a couple questions. If I block my Caller ID is that illegal? This could be good or bad considering who you talk to.
Also, why is the responsibility on the citizen as opposed to the telecommunications company that ALLOWS caller ID manipulation? What about the telecom carriers? Shouldn’t this bill be directed at them as well? While the end result would really be the same –no more spoofed caller ID– it would at least hold the telecom companies accountable. So now, just as we were teaching people to not always trust a person because of what shows up on their caller ID, that may be changing. People will go back to assuming caller ID is always accurate since the government has laws against manipulating it.
And finally, is this the best use of our federal government? Since I am huge proponent of smaller, limited government and favor state’s rights, this is yet another really pointless piece of legislation. As usual, it will keep the honest people honest, and the criminals will continue to spoof caller ID as they wish. It’s the way it always is and always will be.
What do you guys think? Is this a good piece of legislation or not? Does it even really matter?
Popularity: 29% [?]
Topics: Government |
July 2nd, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Does this mean that people cannot use an alias or nickname for making calls from their own phone, to have some anonymity when placing a call? Who would police according to this draconian bill? What about mistakes, nicknames, etc., on one’s own phone–now a crime? The founding fathers and American patriots wrote to newspapers using aliases to make their ideas the main subject rather than their own persons to increase persuasion. Now newspapers require verified, legal names when publishing, and now this caller ID legislation would say you cannot use a nickname? Absurd and tyrannical!
July 2nd, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Follow-up: Check the link for that Senate Bill, as it is dead. Is this State or Federal legislation? A quick search resulted in nothing by that code.
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:22 pm
B, if you’re referring to “pretexting” type practices I think there is legislation already in place attempting to make that illegal, if not already passed. And too, it is going to depend on your motive. If you’re just calling to make dinner reservations, using a pseudonym wouldn’t be an issue. However, if you’re calling pretending to BE someone else to gain information or access to something that is not yours or would be public to you, then that is wrong.
As to who would police this legislation, I don’t think anyone would police it per se, it would be used more for a charge that prosecutors could use against suspects of harassing phone calls or social engineering/fraudulent calls. Or, just another infraction they can charge against someone, kind of like how they got Capone on tax evasion and not really on the heinous crimes he was known for.
You bring up a great point regarding anonymity when writing to the newspaper. A person shouldn’t have to reveal his/her identity just to write an op-ed piece. I’ll have to investigate that to see how it applies locally to where I am.
And yes, you are right - absolutely tyrannical!
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Oh and regarding the link, it still seems to work for me.
And is a Federal Senate bill. Senate Bill 704.
Here’s another link if indeed the first one is giving you problems.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-704
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Think this is a great service; -hopefully the Bill will pass-as I’ll watch. Have been harassed by one of these “spoofCard holders ” for circa 3 years and I’ve had it.
What I’ve done? I sit tight and let the idiot dig his hole. Have kept records of all the “unknown calls” made, especially at inopportune hours like 2-3am. That’s not a salesman. It’s a nut who has separation anxiety and I know him. He shacks with a Russian (big hint) and refused to provide his latest address. (I found it anyway, on a special search ‘engine’ provided by some fine cops. )
I sold my stock in him before it tanked and he knew it. And he’s mad. Thank you for keeping us informed.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
WOE DUDE!?!? That is ridiculous. WTF is wrong with spoofing for entertainment amongst friends??!! Obviously, harassment and illegal activites that cause harm should be illegal with a spoof, but fun amongst friends??!?!
The law needs to state that it is illegal when causing specific harm or in conjunction with another illegal act. RIDICULOUS!
September 6th, 2007 at 6:27 am
check out caller id spoofing from the zero group. . . they are hosted offshore and rates are $10 cheaper then Spoof Card.
September 13th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Im sorry for anyone harrassed by call spoofing but chances are those jerks will find another way to do such things! Many good people use this service to get their teen age kids to answer their cell phones and keep tabs on their kids. Soon gps tracking of your children will be illegal! Its a waste of time and money making such laws, i agree with what was said above the criminals will hide their ID’s and bother people via phone in new ways, while the innocent people using it for good reasons suffer!
Look at the big picture! Pluse with the war and all the other messes the government has to deal with, why is this such a concern? Is Bush getting fake phone calls from someone?
September 20th, 2007 at 9:43 am
i think this is a great idea. some of us out there who have some debts we need to pay get bothered by collectors who seem to think that we have forgot and wont pay them. calling us 15 times a day and threatening us doesn’t make the money appear. so basically the phone calls themselves are a harassing bother. the caller id says unknown. or simply doesn’t show anything at all. i would welcome a change in the law saying they have to disclose who is calling so i can decide whether or not to answer. i give props to this law.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:45 am
o and a second note to that. i have paid most of my debts off, and it had NOTHING to do with the phone calls or how many times they called me.
so dont respond to my comments by going that route. its simply a form of harassment by calling that much and hiding who you are / plain and simple
February 8th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I have to say I can’t stand this spoofing. Somebody has been spoofing using MY number…which has lead me to receive calls Day and Night all asking the same thing “did somebody just call me from this number?”
I hope this bill passes.