Federal

DO NOT Call Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 579 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes the criminal penalties for people who violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. The law makes it a crime to break rules about telephone calls and adds stronger punishments for serious violations. It also increases financial penalties for providing false caller identification information.

Who It Affects

People who willfully and knowingly violate telephone protection laws face criminal penalties. People who receive unwanted calls or messages are potentially protected by these new rules.

Key Provisions

- Anyone who willfully and knowingly violates telephone protection laws can be imprisoned for up to 1 year, fined, or both (Sec. 2(a)(1)). - A person faces up to 3 years in prison if they have a previous conviction under this law, or if the offense involved more than 100,000 calls in 24 hours, more than 1,000,000 calls in 30 days, or more than 10,000,000 calls in 1 year (Sec. 2(a)(2)). - A person also faces up to 3 years in prison if they committed the offense to help carry out a felony (a serious crime) or conspiracy (an agreement with others to commit a felony) (Sec. 2(a)(2)). - A person faces up to 3 years in prison if the offense caused financial loss of $5,000 or more to one or more people within any 1-year period (Sec. 2(a)(2)). - Financial penalties double from $10,000 to $20,000 for providing inaccurate caller identification information (Sec. 2(b)).

What Changes

The bill adds new criminal penalties that previously did not exist in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Prison sentences of up to 1 year now apply to willful violations. Prison sentences of up to 3 years now apply to serious violations involving large numbers of calls, previous convictions, felonies, or substantial financial losses. Monetary penalties for false caller identification information increase from $10,000 to $20,000.

Important Definitions

The bill defines "call" to include a message or other communication. The bill defines "initiate" as the act of sending, making, or transmitting a call, message, or other communication.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 800 To modify the penalties for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 2, 2023 Mr. KUSTOFF (for himself and Ms. ROSS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To modify the penalties for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Deter Obnoxious, Ne- 4 farious, and Outrageous Telephone Calls Act of 2023’’ or 5 the ‘‘DO NOT Call Act of 2023’’. 6 SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE TELEPHONE 7 CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 1991. 8 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Feb 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 800 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 227 of the Commu- 1 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) is amended 2 by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(k) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 5 graph (2), any person who willfully and knowingly 6 violates this section shall be imprisoned for not more 7 than 1 year, fined under title 18, United States 8 Code, or both. 9 ‘‘(2) AGGRAVATED OFFENSE.—Any person who 10 willfully and knowingly violates this section shall be 11 imprisoned for not more than 3 years, fined under 12 title 18, United States Code, or both if— 13 ‘‘(A) the person has previously been con- 14 victed under this subsection; 15 ‘‘(B) the offense involved initiating more 16 than— 17 ‘‘(i) 100,000 calls in a 24-hour period; 18 ‘‘(ii) 1,000,000 calls in a 30-day pe- 19 riod; or 20 ‘‘(iii) 10,000,000 calls in a 1-year pe- 21 riod; 22 ‘‘(C) the person committed the offense 23 with the intent to use the calls in furtherance 24 of a felony or conspiracy to commit a felony; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Feb 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 800 IH ‘‘(D) the offense caused loss to 1 or more 1 persons aggregating $5,000 or more in value 2 during any 1-year period. 3 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub- 4 section— 5 ‘‘(A) the term ‘call’ includes a message or 6 other communication; and 7 ‘‘(B) the term ‘initiate’, with respect to a 8 call, includes the act of sending, making, or 9 transmitting a call, message, or other commu- 10 nication, as applicable.’’. 11 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 12 MENT.—Section 227(e)(5)(B) of the Communica- 13 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)(B)) is 14 amended, in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘sec- 15 tion 501’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (k)’’. 16 (b) INCREASED PENALTIES FOR PROVISION OF INAC- 17 CURATE CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.—Sec- 18 tion 227(e)(5) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 19 U.S.C. 227(e)(5)) is amended— 20 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 21 ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’; and 22 (2) in subparagraph (B), in the first sentence, 23 by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Feb 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H800.IH H800 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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