What's happening
This bill requires voice service providers in New York to implement the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework or equivalent technology, with penalties for noncompliance.
Why it matters
Aims to combat spoofed and fraudulent calls. by requiring all voice service providers—including traditional phone companies and internet-based voice services (like VoIP)—to implement STIR/SHAKEN or equivalent caller ID authentication technology, making it harder for scammers to disguise their identity.
Applies to a broad range of providers and technologies. , including any service connected to the public telephone network and covering both traditional and internet-based calling, ensuring that both old and new forms of telephony are covered under the same anti-spoofing rules.
Establishes significant financial penalties and daily fines. for providers who fail to comply, with fines ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per offense and additional penalties for ongoing violations, creating a strong financial incentive for companies to adopt these security measures quickly.
Empowers state enforcement and oversight. , allowing both the Attorney General and the Public Service Commission to seek injunctions and enforce compliance, and giving the Department of Public Service investigatory powers (including subpoenas and court enforcement), signaling the state’s commitment to strict oversight and prompt action against violators.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Stop Robocalls with Caller ID
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Print number 5926b
- Amend (t) and recommit to energy and telecommunications
- Print number 5926a
- Amend and recommit to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Require Caller ID Authentication
In Senate Committee · Rules · Sponsor Amy Paulin
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5926--B
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications -- recommitted to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 399-z-1 to read as follows:
§ 399-z-1. STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework" means the secure telephone identity revisited and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens standards proposed by the information and communications technology industry.
(b) "Voice service" means any service that is interconnected with the public switched telephone network and that furnishes voice communications to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any successor to the North American Numbering Plan adopted by the public service commission under section 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)); and includes:
i. transmissions from a telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to a telephone facsimile machine; and
ii. without limitation, any service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications, including any service that requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment (commonly known as
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11622-12-0
S. 5926--B 2
"CPE") and permits out-bound calling, whether or not the service is one-way or two-way voice over internet protocol.
2. Not later than twelve months after the date upon which this section shall have become a law, the public service commission shall require a provider of voice service to implement the STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework or alternative technology that provides comparable or superior capability to verify and authenticate caller identification in the internet protocol networks of voice service providers.
3. Any voice service provider that knowingly fails or neglects to comply with this section, or a rule or regulation adopted thereunder, shall forfeit to the people of the state of New York a sum not less than ten thousand dollars and no more than one hundred thousand dollars constituting a civil penalty for each and every offense and, in the case of a continuing violation, each day shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense.
4. Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an application may be made by either (a) the attorney general in the name of the people of the state of New York, or (b) in the case of a voice service provider subject to the jurisdiction of the public service commission, to a court or justice having jurisdiction, to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violations, and for the enforcement of the penalties provided in this section.
5. When the department of public service has reason to believe a person or voice service provider has violated any provision of this section, the department may request in writing the production of relevant documents and records. If the person upon whom such request was made fails to produce the documents or records within fourteen days after the date of the request, the department may issue and serve subpoenas to compel the production of such documents and records. If any person shall refuse to comply with a subpoena issued under this section, the department may petition a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the subpoena and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to request a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars per day, actual damages sustained by reason of the failure to comply, and such sanctions as the court may direct.
6. The public service commission and the department of public service may promulgate rules and regulations to implement and enforce the provisions of this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework
Purpose or general idea of bill
Requires providers of voice service to implement the STIR/SHAKEN authen- tication framework in the internet protocol networks of voice service providers.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one of the bill adds a new section 399-z-1 to the general busi- ness law to provide that voice service providers shall implement the STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework or alternative technology that provides comparable or superior capability to verify and authenticate caller identification in the internet protocol networks of voice service providers. It further sets forth penalty and enforcement provisions.
Section two provides the effective date.
Justification
Unwanted robocalls are the top consumer complaint received by the Feder- al Communications Commission (FCC), representing over sixty percent of all complaints received.* It is estimated that Americans received about 16.3 billion robocalls in the first five months of 2018 alone. ** In the month of September 2018, roughly 4.4 billion robocalls were reported.*** These numbers continue to rise and the predictions for the expected number of robocalls in the coming year are staggering. In 2017, only about 3.7% of all calls to cell phones were considered to be robo- calls.**** In 2018, that number rose to about 29% and by 2019, it is expected that at least 45% of all calls to cell phones will be robo- calls.*****
Many of these calls are coming from .numbers that actually do not or cannot make outgoing calls.******* These types of numbers are indicative of "spoofing" schemes wherein the true caller identity is masked behind a fake, invalid number. There is also a common practice of consumers receiving calls from such invalid numbers which show up as a local call on their caller ID, prompting many to pick up only to realize it is a robocall.
In efforts to combat this issue, on November 5, 2018 the FCC called upon, but did not require, all voice service providers to implement the STIR/SHAKEN authentication protocol, with a target date of 2019. ****** The STIR/SHAKEN authentication protocol uses cryptography to validate that a call is really from the number it displays, preventing bad actors from illegally "spoofing" phone numbers. STIR/SHAKEN also makes it much easier to trace illegal calls back to their source, since each hall will have an identification assigned to it. Once the source is identified, enforcement actions can be taken against the perpetrators.
All voice providers must implement STIR/SHAKEN in order for it to be effective, otherwise there will be holes in the telecommunications system that bad actors can exploit to continue to "spoof" numbers and avoid detection. Since the FCC has not required implementation, many small providers have not adopted it and scammers have begun to originate calls on those providers' networks to avoid authentication and detection. By mandating implementation of STIR/SHAKEN by all voice providers in New York, we can prevent this.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implication
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately. * See FCC press release- FCC Adopts Rules to Allow Phone Companies to Proactively Block Illegal Robocalls. November 16, 2017. See also "The FCC's Push to Combat Robocalls & Spoofing." https://www.fcc.gov/aboutfcc/fcc- initiatives/fccs-push-combat- robocalls- spoofing ** See https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/ americans-got-16-billion-robo- calls-thisy ear-heres-how-to-stop-them.html *** See https://www.consumerreports.org/ robocalls/best-ways- tofightrobocalls/ **** See https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/09/19/ nearlyhalf-cell- phone-calls-will- be-scams-by-report-says /?utm term=. 6dcOeb2b0198 ***** Id. ****** See FCC press release- CHAIRMAN PAI CALLS ON INDUSTRY TO ADOPT ANTI-SPOOFING PROTOCOLS TO HELP CONSUMERS COMBAT SCAM November 5, 2018. https://www.fcc.gov/document/ chairman-paidemandsindustry- adopt-protocolsend-illegal-spoofing
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.