Bill Text: NY A00984 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires a call-blocking service to be provided in state contracts that include procurement of a voice service; provides that a voice service provider shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability for failure of a call-blocking service to block a call, or mistakenly blocking a call that should not have been blocked.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-08 - referred to governmental operations [A00984 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A00984-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           984

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 8, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. STECK, BLANKENBUSH, BUTTENSCHON, COLTON, CRUZ,
          DeSTEFANO, DINOWITZ, HAWLEY, HYNDMAN, MANKTELOW, McDONOUGH, MORINELLO,
          RA, REYES, ROZIC, SANTABARBARA, SAYEGH, SIMON, SMULLEN, STIRPE, WALSH,
          WEPRIN -- read once and referred  to  the  Committee  on  Governmental
          Operations

        AN  ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to requiring a call-
          blocking service to  be  provided  in  state  contracts  that  include
          procurement if a voice service

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The state finance law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     2  149 to read as follows:
     3    § 149. Automated call software. 1. As used in this section:
     4    (a)  "voice service" (i) means any service that is interconnected with
     5  the public switched telephone network and that furnishes voice  communi-
     6  cations to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering
     7  Plan  or  any  successor to the North American Numbering Plan adopted by
     8  the commission under section 251(e)(1) of the federal Communications Act
     9  of 1934, as amended; and (ii) includes (A) transmissions  from  a  tele-
    10  phone  facsimile  machine,  computer,  or  other  device  to a telephone
    11  facsimile machine; and (B) without limitation, any service that  enables
    12  real-time,  two-way  voice  communications,  including  any service that
    13  requires internet protocol-compatible customer  premises  equipment  and
    14  permits  out-bound  calling,  whether  or not such service is one-way or
    15  two-way voice over internet protocol;
    16    (b) "caller identification information" means information provided  to
    17  an  end  user by a caller identification service regarding the telephone
    18  number of, or other information regarding the  origination  of,  a  call
    19  made using a voice service;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03106-01-5
        A. 984                              2

     1    (c)  "caller  identification  service"  means  any  service  or device
     2  designed to provide the user of the service or device with the telephone
     3  number of, or other information regarding the  origination  of,  a  call
     4  made  using  a  voice service. Such term includes automatic number iden-
     5  tification services; and
     6    (d) "call-blocking service" means any service that (i) uses reasonable
     7  analytics  designed  to  identify  unwanted calls; and (ii) blocks calls
     8  identified by such analytics.
     9    2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, where a
    10  contract that includes the procurement of  a  voice  service  is  to  be
    11  awarded by a state agency, public authority or municipality, pursuant to
    12  a  competitive  bidding  process or a request for proposal process, such
    13  contract shall require that any voice service furnished to the state  or
    14  any of its political subdivisions shall include a call-blocking service.
    15    3.  A  voice  service  provider  that provides a call-blocking service
    16  pursuant to this section shall not be subject to any civil  or  criminal
    17  liability  on  the  basis that such call-blocking service blocked a call
    18  that was wanted or failed to block a call that was unwanted.
    19    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    20  ing the date it shall have become a law.