The President's Plan to Reduce the Deficit and Invade Your Cell Phone
nolu chan
October 4, 2011
The President's Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction, of September 2011, aka Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future, contains a provision to assist in debt collection. Current law (The Communications Act of 1934 as amended by the Telecom Act of 1996) protects your cell phone from the plague of robocalls. The administration plans to fix that so the government can reach out and touch even if you disconnect your land line. While the current plan reads only to provide this benefit to government agencies, other debt collectors are sure to follow. A government agency could contract the work out to fine folks at existing professional debt collection enterprises.
At page 28 (PDF page 38) of the President's Plan:
Allow agencies to contact delinquent debtors via their cellular phones. The Administration also proposes to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to facilitate collection of debts owed to or guaranteed by the Federal Government, by facilitating contact of delinquent debtors who are most readily reached on their cell phones.This provision is expected to provide substantial increases in collections, particularly as an increasing share of households no longer have landlines and rely instead on cell phones.
The President's Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction (Sep 2011)
Section 227 (47 U.S.C. 227) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Telecom Act of 1996 [pp. 71-79], provides Section 227(b)(1)(B) [p. 72]:
(1) PROHIBITIONS.--It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States-- [...]
(B) to initiate any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party, unless the call is initiated for emergency purposes or is exempted by rule or order by the Commission under paragraph (2)(B).
The cited paragraph (2)(B) at page 72-73:
(2) REGULATIONS; EXEMPTIONS AND OTHER PROVISIONS.--The Commission shall prescribe regulations to implement the requirements of this subsection. In implementing the requirements of this subsection, the Commission-- [...]
(B) may, by rule or order, exempt from the requirements of paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection, subject to such conditions as the Commission may prescribe--
(i) calls that are not made for a commercial purpose; and (ii) such classes or categories of calls made for commercial purposes as the Commission determines--
(I) will not adversely affect the privacy rights that this section is intended to protect; and
(II) do not include the transmission of any unsolicited advertisement; and
