A pending caller id spoofing bill will make using caller IDs to defraud or cause harm to people illegal. Rep. Eliot Engle, D-N.Y. is the sponsor of the measure and said caller ID tampering can be used by stalkers, and stated that some congressional offices have been flooded with complaints from constituents after a spoofer sent out nasty messages identified by caller ID as coming from a member of Congress.
The bill was proposed to protect people with legitimate reasons to alter the caller ID, such as a victim of domestic violence not wanting to disclose her phone number.
The bill is H.R. 251, and like all political red tape has yet to go to the Senate. If passed it gives the Federal Communications Commission authority to develop regulations to enforce the new law. It keeps intact penalties already in the 1934 Communications Act that sets penalties for fraud at up to $10,000 or a year in prison.
The House last March passed similar legislation that made spoofing a felony subject to up to five years in prison.
If you want to follow the latest activity of this bill, check out GovTrack.us: This bill has been passed in the House. The bill now goes on to be voted on in the Senate. Keep in mind that debate may be taking place on a companion bill in the Senate, rather than on this particular bill.
[Last Updated: Jan 26, 2008]
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