There is another "Truth In Caller ID Act" bill currently making its way through the Senate. This bill, known as The Truth In Caller ID Act of 2007, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2007. This is the second time a bill of this nature is being considered. The first of its kind, The Truth In Caller ID Act of 2006, was dropped and did not pass.
What does this bill mean and what will happen if it passes? Many people are under the impression that if the Truth In Caller ID Act passes into law, it will terminate Caller ID spoofing or the companies that offer this service. At this particular time, this is not true. The purpose of the bill, as it stands now, is not to eliminate Caller ID spoofing, but to place responsibility on the individual who utilizes Caller ID spoofing to ensure they use the service within the law.
More specifically, the individual would not be permitted to spoof with the intention of defrauding, causing harm, or attempting to wrongfully obtain anything valuable. In other words, a person will no longer be able to use the Caller ID spoofing service to make a pretext call.
Caller ID spoofing has become a serious issue in the past few years due to the fact that more and more people are becoming aware that this service may be used to obtain phone records and other personal or corporate information. It is because of the corruption that has, and can occur with Caller ID spoofing, that captured the government"s attention and brought about the creation of the Truth In Caller ID Act.
The objective of this bill is to put a stop to Caller ID spoofing used to commit wire fraud or identity theft, by punishing those who engage in this practice by fining or prosecuting them. Therefore, people who use Caller ID spoofing to make prank calls should also be aware that though they may only be intending a practical joke, this can be considered "causing harm", which would be against the law and could result in a fine.
Last but not least, telemarketers may also be subject to a fine if the law is passed, should they attempt to use Caller ID spoofing to bypass the National Do Not Call Registry law. That being said, you should know that although this law has not yet been passed, you can still find out whose calling you and find the source to prank calls.