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Missouri Bill Aims To Curb 'Robocalls'
by Theresa Poulson
Missouri is a hotbed of tech-related debate this week as the state Senate approved two bills and a third was introduced that would change technology regulation in the Show Me State.
The Missouri Senate Tuesday approved a bill that would expand the state's "do not call" list to include "robocalls" made by political candidates and sent via automatic dialing machines.
The measure also would require that the list be expanded to include calls from cell phones, text messages and faxes, AP reported.
The bill would require that the dialer state the person paying for the political message and ask permission before the recorded message begins. Also, the measure would mandate registration of the entity sponsoring the call with a state ethics commission or the Federal Election Commission.
If the bill passes into law, Missouri will join six states that already have expanded their do-no-call lists to restrict calls by automated services. A federal appellate court upheld a Minnesota ban of this kind in 1994.
Missouri state senators raised questions about the robocall legislation. State Sen. Tim Green told the AP that the state's measure falls short in that dialers can get around it just by blocking their number.
Green asked, "Can you really enforce what we're trying to do, or is it just nice window-dressing?"
The bill will move to the House if it gets a second-round approval in the Senate.
Similar legislation in Georgia will have to wait for further study, state legislators said Tuesday. A state House subcommittee chairman will appoint another committee of legislators to work on the bill, along with a staffer from the state attorney general's office and the bill's sponsor, GOP state Rep. Mike Keown.
The move means the measure is unlikely to become law this year, The Macon Telegraph reported. Still, Georgia House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter, a Republican, said he would like to see the bill move forward but suggested the need for more information because of First Amendment concerns.
Missouri Focuses On Internet Telephony Deregulation
Meanwhile, back in Missouri, state Sen. Matt Bartle introduced legislation Wednesday that would prohibit the state's Public Service Commission from regulating Internet telephony, also known as voice over the Internet protocol services.
The measure, S.B. 552, also would prohibit imposing fees to support 911-related services on Internet telephony providers if similar fees are not imposed on telecommunications companies.
The Institute for Policy Innovation, a Texas-based think tank that favors less taxes and regulation, issued a statement Tuesday touting the benefits of competition and voicing concerns over potential regulation of Internet telephony by the state's commission. The institute argued that less regulation will lead to more consumer choice and lower prices.
"Instead of moving to deregulate old technologies that have no need for the competition-squelching, price-hiking supervision, the Missouri commission is moving to regulate new technologies harming advances in technology, service to customers and state competition in the process," Barry M. Aarons, a research fellow at the institute, said in the statement.
Robert Boone, the commission's legislative coordinator, however, said the commission has made no such attempt. "The commissioners are split on the issue," so the public service regulating body is unlikely to take an official position, Boone told Technology Daily.
Boone said another bill, S.B. 284, which passed the state Senate this week, originally included an Internet telephony deregulatory measure, but it was removed before it was approved by the full state Senate. Boone said the commission did not take a position on the original version of the bill that contained the prohibition on Internet telephony regulation.
The bill, sponsored by Republican state Sen. John Griesheimer, would authorize statewide video franchise agreements.
Supporters say the bill is aimed at giving TV viewers in the state more choices. It would pave the way for telecommunications companies like AT&T to offer television service over telephone and Internet wires. The measure now moves to the state House.
More States Join Opposition To Federal ID Mandate
Lawmakers in Maryland, Utah and Idaho have joined more than a dozen other states in backing resolutions to delay or repeal the so-called federal REAL ID act. They cite the lack of federal funding and guidelines as well as potential privacy issues as reasons for calling on the federal government to put the brakes on the law before its May 2008 implementation.
The Idaho House Transportation Committee Wednesday debated a resolution opposing the law, which sets federal standards for citizens to obtain driver's licenses and requires states to link their systems to national databases.
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter co-sponsored the act in 2005 as a member of the U.S. House. The Republican governor said he now has concerns about the law and fears it could be too costly, according to the AP.
Republican state Rep. Phil Hart said the law is "a backdoor attempt by the federal government to impose a national ID card on the states."
The Utah House Friday unanimously approved a resolution with a similar message.
While the director of the Utah Driver License Division, Nanette Rolfe, told The Deseret Morning News that the measure puts in place more safeguards to ensure driver's license holders "are who they say they are," the federal government needs to release the rules for complying with the law. The rules are expected to be released later this year.
The state has yet to see any federal funding to implement the act, she said. Rolfe estimated that Utah's start-up costs would be $2.5 million.
"That's a very, very rough estimate on the shell," she said. "We don't know what the inside workings are."
In Maryland, Democratic state Sen. Jennie M. Forehand, last week introduced a joint resolution calling for the state to refuse to obey the law and for Congress to repeal it, The Herald-Mail reported.
Forehand said under the law, the cost of a new state license could increase from $45 to $195.
A report released last year by the National Conference of State Legislatures estimated it could cost states a total of $11 billion to implement the law during its first five years. The NCSL has set up an online database on its Web site to track the progress of state legislation dealing with the REAL ID law.
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