DO NOT Call Act

The "DO NOT Call Act" proposes significant amendments to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1993, primarily by introducing new criminal penalties for violations. Any person who willfully and knowingly violates the Act could face imprisonment for up to one year, a fine, or both. This marks a substantial shift from previous enforcement mechanisms, aiming to deter unsolicited calls and messages more effectively. The bill specifies aggravated offenses that carry increased penalties of up to three years imprisonment, a fine, or both. These include situations where an offender has a prior conviction, initiates an extremely high volume of calls (e.g., over 100,000 in 24 hours), intends to use calls for a felony, or causes significant financial loss of $5,000 or more. Furthermore, the legislation doubles the civil penalties for providing inaccurate caller identification information, increasing the maximum fine from $10,000 to $20,000 per violation to combat deceptive practices.