Truth in Caller ID Passes Congress
The House of Representatives passed the "Truth in Caller ID"
bill yesterday. The House accepted the Senate version of the bill, (S 30)
and will send it on to the President for his signature.
The good news is that the Senate bill retains language that limits the use
of "spoofing" of caller ID information only "with the intent to defraud,
cause harm, or wrongfully obtain something of value". NCISS opposed the
earlier House-passed caller id bill (HR 1258) because it had troublesome
language that would have included a ban on spoofing with the intent to
"defraud or deceive". Our legislative committee was concerned that any use
of spoofing could be considered by courts to be intended to deceive.
Investigators would lose a valuable tool.
After the House passed its bill, we called upon NCISS members to contact
their Senators to urge them to reject HR 1258 and insist on the language of
S 30. Some criticized us for doing so. NCISS Washington Advocate Larry
Sabbath then contacted Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), who sponsored S 30, and
relevant committee staff members to explain the how "spoofing" is used by
private investigators and why we prefer S 30.
It is clear from the debate that Congress intends to permit continued use of
manipulation of caller id information where there are legitimate business
reasons for doing so. Collection companies were cited as one example.
Thanks
to all investigators who responded to our call to contact their Senators on
short notice. And a special thank you to Senator Bill Nelson and his staff
who listened to our concerns and responded.
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Keeping the profession informed,
Jimmie Mesis
NCISS Legislative Chairman
NCISS
7501 Sparrows Point Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21219-1927
(800) 445-8408 . Fax: (410)
388-9746
jim@nciss.org
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