Provides that a business entity may not provide false caller identification information with the intent to defraud or harass any party; provides definition of business entity.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2581
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 26, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KIM, PAULIN, DINOWITZ, WEPRIN, ZEBROWSKI, BENE-
DETTO, OTIS, L. ROSENTHAL, COLTON, GUNTHER, SEAWRIGHT, STECK, BARRETT
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and
Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law and the civil practice law and
rules, in relation to prohibiting business entities from transmitting
false caller identification information with the intent to defraud or
harass any person
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 399-ppp to read as follows:
3 § 399-ppp. Prohibition on provision of deceptive caller identification
4 information. 1. It shall be unlawful for any business entity, in
5 connection with any telecommunications service or VoIP service, to cause
6 any caller identification service to transmit false caller identifica-
7 tion information, with the intent to defraud or harass, when making a
8 call to any person within the state.
9 2. For purposes of this section:
10 (a) "Business entity" means a corporation, association, partnership,
11 limited liability company, limited liability partnership or other legal
12 entity.
13 (b) "Caller identification information" means information provided to
14 an end user by a caller identification service regarding the telephone
15 number of, or other information regarding the origination of, a call
16 made using a telecommunications service or VoIP service.
17 (c) "Caller identification service" means any service or device
18 designed to provide the user of the service or device with the telephone
19 number of, or other information regarding the origination of, a call
20 made using a telecommunications service or VoIP service. Such term
21 includes automatic number identification services.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07080-01-3
A. 2581 2
1 (d) "VoIP service" means a service that:
2 (i) provides real-time voice communications transmitted through end
3 user equipment using TCP/IP protocol, or a successor protocol, for a fee
4 or without a fee; and
5 (ii) is offered to the public, or such classes of users as to be
6 effectively available to the public (whether part of a bundle of
7 services or separately); and
8 (iii) has the capability to originate traffic to, or terminate traffic
9 from, the public switched telephone network.
10 3. Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an application
11 may be made by the attorney general in the name of the people of the
12 state of New York to a court or justice having jurisdiction to issue an
13 injunction, and upon notice to the defendant, to immediately enjoin and
14 restrain the continuance of such violations; and if it shall appear to
15 the satisfaction of the court or justice, by a preponderance of the
16 evidence, that the defendant has, in fact, violated this section an
17 injunction may be issued by such court or justice enjoining and
18 restraining any further violation, without requiring proof that any
19 person has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. The court may make
20 allowances to the attorney general as provided in paragraph six of
21 subdivision (a) of section eighty-three hundred three of the civil prac-
22 tice law and rules. In addition to any such allowances, the court may
23 direct restitution to any victim upon a showing of damages by a prepon-
24 derance of the evidence. In addition to any such restitution, whenever
25 the court shall determine that a violation of this section has occurred,
26 the court may impose a civil penalty of not more than two thousand
27 dollars per call, up to a total aggregate amount of not more than one
28 hundred thousand dollars, for all calls placed in violation of this
29 section within a continuous seventy-two hour period. In connection with
30 any such proposed application, the attorney general is authorized to
31 take proof and make a determination of the relevant facts and to issue
32 subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and rules.
33 4. In addition to the right of action granted to the attorney general
34 pursuant to this section, any person whose caller identification infor-
35 mation was used in connection with a violation of this section or who
36 has received a telephone call in violation of this section may bring an
37 action in his or her own name to enjoin such unlawful act or practice,
38 an action to recover the greater of (a) his or her actual damages, or
39 (b) an amount equal to not more than five hundred dollars per call, up
40 to a total aggregate amount of not more than twenty-five thousand
41 dollars for all calls placed in violation of this section within a
42 continuous seventy-two hour period; or both such actions. The court may
43 award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
44 5. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any member of a
45 law enforcement unit acting within the scope of his or her assigned
46 duties or to a court order that specifically authorizes the use of call-
47 er identification manipulation.
48 § 2. Paragraph 6 of subdivision (a) of section 8303 of the civil prac-
49 tice law and rules, as amended by chapter 530 of the laws of 2002, is
50 amended to read as follows:
51 6. to the plaintiffs in an action or proceeding brought by the [attor-
52 ney-general] attorney general under [articles] article twenty-two, twen-
53 ty-two-A, twenty-three-A or thirty-three or section three hundred nine-
54 ty-one-b, three hundred ninety-nine-ppp, or five hundred twenty-a of the
55 general business law, or under subdivision twelve of section sixty-three
56 of the executive law, or under article twenty-three of the arts and
A. 2581 3
1 cultural affairs law, or in an action or proceeding brought by the
2 [attorney-general] attorney general under applicable statutes to
3 dissolve a corporation or for usurpation of public office, or unlawful
4 exercise of franchise or of corporate right, a sum not exceeding two
5 thousand dollars against each defendant.
6 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
7 have become a law.
