Senator John Thune (R-SD), chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), author of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), have reintroduced the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act (S. 151). Originally introduced in November 2018, the bill proposes several changes to the TCPA that, according to the Senators’ press release, are designed to ramp up enforcement against unwanted robocalls and text messages and “give the FCC more flexibility to enforce the law.”
The bill appears to be identical to the November 2018 version and includes provisions that: (1) broaden the FCC’s authority to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call against violators who intentionally disobey telemarketing restrictions; (2) require voice service providers to adopt call authentication technology; (3) expand TCPA enforcement to the DOJ, FTC, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, the CFPB, and other federal agencies and non-federal entities; and (4) require the above-named agencies, along with the FCC and state attorneys general, to identify and report to Congress regarding deterrence improvements and increased civil and criminal prosecution of scam robocalls.
S. 151 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for consideration.
