July 10, 2009 - The Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions, (ATIS), today announced its strong support for H.R. 1110, “Preventing Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement Act of 2009,” or the PHONE Act of 2009.   

In a letter to the House’s Judiciary and Energy and Commerce Committees’ leadership, ATIS cites the work of its Telecommunications Fraud Prevention Committee to address the increased use of Caller ID “spoofing” to harass, threaten, and promote illegal activity.  Moreover, given the limited recourse “spoofing” activities afford industry; the letter reiterates the need for this legislation.

Materially, H.R. 1110 seeks to explicitly prohibit Caller ID Spoofing as a means of furthering unlawful activity.  It will prohibit users of telecommunications or IP-enabled voice services from knowingly providing misleading information to caller identification services. 

“Telephony – and its associated capabilities – enables our immediate, trusted connection to that which we most value,” said Susan Miller, ATIS President and CEO. “The PHONE Act of 2009 will ensure the continued reliability of caller identification technologies, and will benefit millions of consumers. I urge Congress to support the PHONE Act of 2009.”

About ATIS
ATIS is the leading technical planning and standards development organization committed to the rapid development of global, market-driven standards for the information, entertainment and communications industry. More than 250 companies actively formulate standards in ATIS’ 20 Committees, covering issues including: IPTV, Service Oriented Networks, Home Networking, Energy Efficiency, IP-Based and Wireless Technologies, Quality of Service, Billing and Operational Support. In addition, numerous Incubators, Focus and Exploratory Groups address emerging industry priorities including “Green”, IP Downloadable Security, Next Generation Carrier Interconnect, IPv6 and Convergence.

ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a member and major U.S. contributor to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio and Telecommunications’ Sectors, and a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). www.atis.org