Reply #27: Read the bill. As written, it's going to create major headaches.

[Psephos]

Here's the bill:

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1258rh.txt.pdf

It appears that nobody on Capitol Hill consulted a voice engineer.

Most caller ID from businesses is "spoofed." When someone calls you from a company that operates a PBX (internal switching network), the number on your ID box is rarely the actual number of the caller. Most likely, it's a designated line that brings you to a directory tree, N.A.L. queue, or something else more appropriate and more responsive than an individual DID (node).

There is no exemption or clarifying language for businesses using private branch exchanges (i.e., most companies over 50 employees). But there is an exemption for law enforcement. Not much of a surprise there.

Now consider VOIP. For example, say you use Skype to make outbound calls. You either have to spoof your caller ID to match your "real" phone, purchase an online number from Skype and then tether your caller ID to that, or transmit a nonsensical ID like 88888888. In short, all of the CID functionality provided by Skype involves spoofing.

So how are VoIP provides like Skype supposed to operate now?

The law is poorly written. There will be an outcry from the millions of people it punks. Regulations and "clarifications" will have to be drafted to hack the law back into what it was supposed to be in the first place, a safeguard against scammers.