Requires a call-blocking service to be provided in state contracts that include procurement of a voice service; provides that a voice service provider shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability for failure of a call-blocking service to block a call, or mistakenly blocking a call that should not have been blocked.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
984
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STECK, BLANKENBUSH, BUTTENSCHON, COLTON, CRUZ,
DeSTEFANO, DINOWITZ, HAWLEY, HYNDMAN, MANKTELOW, McDONOUGH, MORINELLO,
RA, REYES, ROZIC, SANTABARBARA, SAYEGH, SIMON, SMULLEN, STIRPE, WALSH,
WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental
Operations
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to requiring a call-
blocking service to be provided in state contracts that include
procurement if a voice service
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section
2 149 to read as follows:
3 § 149. Automated call software. 1. As used in this section:
4 (a) "voice service" (i) means any service that is interconnected with
5 the public switched telephone network and that furnishes voice communi-
6 cations to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering
7 Plan or any successor to the North American Numbering Plan adopted by
8 the commission under section 251(e)(1) of the federal Communications Act
9 of 1934, as amended; and (ii) includes (A) transmissions from a tele-
10 phone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to a telephone
11 facsimile machine; and (B) without limitation, any service that enables
12 real-time, two-way voice communications, including any service that
13 requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment and
14 permits out-bound calling, whether or not such service is one-way or
15 two-way voice over internet protocol;
16 (b) "caller identification information" means information provided to
17 an end user by a caller identification service regarding the telephone
18 number of, or other information regarding the origination of, a call
19 made using a voice service;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03106-01-5
A. 984 2
1 (c) "caller identification service" means any service or device
2 designed to provide the user of the service or device with the telephone
3 number of, or other information regarding the origination of, a call
4 made using a voice service. Such term includes automatic number iden-
5 tification services; and
6 (d) "call-blocking service" means any service that (i) uses reasonable
7 analytics designed to identify unwanted calls; and (ii) blocks calls
8 identified by such analytics.
9 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where a
10 contract that includes the procurement of a voice service is to be
11 awarded by a state agency, public authority or municipality, pursuant to
12 a competitive bidding process or a request for proposal process, such
13 contract shall require that any voice service furnished to the state or
14 any of its political subdivisions shall include a call-blocking service.
15 3. A voice service provider that provides a call-blocking service
16 pursuant to this section shall not be subject to any civil or criminal
17 liability on the basis that such call-blocking service blocked a call
18 that was wanted or failed to block a call that was unwanted.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
20 ing the date it shall have become a law.
