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US House Passes Ban On Caller ID Spoofing

Posted by Soulskill on from the posted-by-sir-isaac-newton dept.

smarek writes "The 'Truth in Caller ID Act' passed the US House of Representatives on Wednesday. The legislation is trying to outlaw Caller ID spoofing. In some cases, this spoofing has led to individuals giving out information that has led to identity theft. Last year the NYPD discovered over 6,000 victims of Caller ID spoofing, who together lost a total of $15 million. A companion bill has already been passed by the Senate, and the two are on their way to 'informal conference to reconcile any differences.' The bill that results will most likely pass." PCWorld's coverage notes that callers will still be able to block their information entirely, and that the bill may have negative consequences for legitimate phone-related services, such as Google Voice.

3 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Yet another legal solution to a technical problem by bcmm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People who steal identities will carry on spoofing caller ID, because they already commit more serious crimes, while users of legitimate services will be inconvenienced. Still, at least the politicians are seen to do something about the problem.

    --
    # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
    Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
  2. If Congress legislates Email From: headers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And if Congress legislates that in all email messages, the "From:" headers cannot be forged, THAT will stop SPAM. I'm certain of it. Just like this will stop caller ID spoofing.

  3. This will show the wrascally criminals by exabrial · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Clearly, this is the correct solution and will whip those wrascally criminals into shape. There isn't anything this congress can't do!