The U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted today to criminalize impersonation of telephone subscribers to obtain their account information. The Senate passed a parallel bill that would mandate only a 5 year jail term for violators. I imagine that the compromise bill will put illicit phone callers behind bars for longer stretches than rapists.
The House Judiciary Committee today approved a bill calling for fines and as many as 20 years in prison for impersonating customers or using other fraudulent methods to obtain the records. That bill, and one passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would impose fines and as many as five years in prison for obtaining or selling records without customers’ permission.
Great. Now if only they could do something about all the collect calls I receive from the local prison – part of a call forwarding scam. I only get them about once every two months but it is annoying.