Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
"New Jersey Telephone Call Blocking Act"; allows telephone service providers to block certain telephone calls.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain telephone service call blocking and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act may be known and may be cited as the "New Jersey Telephone Call Blocking Act."
2. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Caller identification service" means a service that allows a telephone subscriber to have the telephone number and, if available, the name of the calling party transmitted contemporaneously with the telephone call and displayed on a device in or connected to the subscriber's telephone.
"Pooling administrator" means the Thousands-Block Pooling Administrator as identified in 47 C.F.R. s.52.20.
"Provider" means a telecommunications company that provides telephone access line service to a customer in this State.
3. a. Consistent with federal law, a provider operating in this State may block a telephone call:
(1) when the subscriber to which the originating telephone number is assigned has requested that a telephone call purporting to originate from that telephone number be blocked because the telephone number is used for inbound telephone calls only; or
(2) originating from a telephone number that is:
(a) not a valid North American Numbering Plan telephone number;
(b) a valid North American Numbering Plan telephone number not allocated to a provider by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator or the pooling administrator; or
(c) a valid North American Numbering Plan telephone number allocated to a provider by the North American Numbering Plan Administrator or pooling administrator, but is unused, so long as the provider blocking the telephone call is the assignee of the telephone number and confirms that the telephone number is unused or has obtained verification from the assignee that the telephone number is unused at the time of the blocking.
b. A provider shall not block a telephone call pursuant to subparagraphs (a) or (b) of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section if the telephone call is an emergency telephone call placed to 9-1-1.
c. For purposes of blocking a telephone call from certain originating telephone numbers, as authorized pursuant to subsection a. of this section, a provider may rely on caller identification service information to determine the originating telephone number.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill, designated as the "New Jersey Telephone Call Blocking Act," allows a telephone service provider (provider), consistent with federal law, to block a telephone call (call):
1) when the subscriber to which the originating telephone number (number) is assigned has requested that a call purporting to originate from that number be blocked because the number is used for inbound calls only; or
2) originating from a number that is:
a) not a valid North American Numbering Plan (NANP) number;
b) a valid NANP number not allocated to a provider by the NANP Administrator or the pooling administrator; or
c) a valid NANP number allocated to a provider by the NANP Administrator or pooling administrator, but is unused, so long as the provider blocking the call is the assignee of the number and confirms that the number is unused or has obtained verification from the assignee that the number is unused at the time of the blocking.
The bill prohibits a provider from blocking a call if the call is an emergency call placed to 9-1-1. The bill allows a provider to rely on caller identification service information to determine the originating number for the purposes of blocking a call.