New York Gov. Seeks Crackdown On Robocalls, Caller ID Spoofing

New Federal Anti-Robocall Measures Signed Into Law

January 2, 2020

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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced as part of his 2020 State of the State Agenda, "a comprehensive proposal to fight incessant robocalls or nuisance calls."

Among other things, the proposed legislation will require every telephone service provider to fully implement STIR/SHAKEN protocol, an industry-based call authentication protocol to provide additional caller ID information on all phone numbers, including those not originating from New York numbers, and warn consumers of potential scams and robocalls.

The Governor's proposed legislation will include the following provisions:

Require Telephone Providers to Block Robocalls or be Held Responsible

Under the Governor's proposal, telecommunication providers will be required to deploy, as described in a news release from the Governor's office, "the best robocall blocking technology available to consumers by default."

"Right now, some companies offer the technology only upon request, if at all," the Governor's office said

Companies that fail to deploy these "best efforts" to stop robocalls will be held accountable and subject to investigation and fines of up to $100,000 a day by the Department of Public Service or the State Division of Consumer Protection.

Require Rapid Implementation of Call Authentication Technology to Flag Questionable Callers

Under the Governor's proposal, every telephone service provider will be required to fully implement STIR/SHAKEN protocol, an industry-based call authentication protocol as soon as possible. The STIR/SHAKEN protocol was developed by the telecommunications industry to provide additional caller ID information on all phone numbers, including those not originating from New York numbers, and warn consumers of potential scams and robocalls.

Double Penalties Against Robocallers for "Do Not Call" Law Violations

New York's "Do Not Call" Law, provides the State Division of Consumer Protection enforcement authority to track down and penalize bad actors who make unsolicited calls to New Yorkers who have signed up with the State's Do Not Call Registry. In addition to the up to $100,000 a day penalty to telecommunication companies for failure to block robocalls, the Governor is proposing doubling the current maximum fines for "Do Not Call" violators from $11,000 per call to up to $22,000 per call.

Separately, President Donald Trump recently signed S. 151, the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act.

Among other things, the federal TRACED Act

• Requires voice service providers to adopt call authentication technologies, namely STIR/SHAKEN, enabling a telephone carrier to verify that incoming calls are legitimate before they reach consumers’ phones.

• Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to initiate a rulemaking to help protect subscribers from receiving unwanted calls or texts from callers.

• Directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking process to protect consumers from 'one-ring' scams.

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

• Extends the window for the FCC to catch and take civil enforcement action against intentional violations to four years after a robocall is placed. Under current law, the FCC has only one year to do so

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