Jewish Community Centers Get Emergency Waiver So They Can Trace Threatening Calls
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau gave Jewish community centers an emergency waiver Friday so they can trace bomb threats. The JCCs sought a waiver of 64.1601(b) of rules, “which prohibits terminating carriers from passing the calling party number…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
(CPN) to a called party where a privacy indicator has been triggered by the caller,” a public notice said. “Access to the CPN could assist in identifying individuals placing threatening calls to those facilities.” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., sought action in a waiver request and an FCC spokesman had said Chairman Ajit Pai was "very concerned" about the threats (see 1703010065). Schumer indicated 69 threats have been made to 54 JCCs in 27 states since the beginning of 2017, the bureau said. “Given the exigent circumstances and number of recent threats cited, we separately grant, on an emergency and temporary basis, a waiver of section 64.1601(b) as applied to threatening calls made to JCC facilities,” the bureau said. “We seek comment herein on whether to extend that waiver on a permanent basis, including ways to best facilitate the ability of law enforcement to identify individuals making such threatening calls while maintaining the privacy of callers who utilize CPN blocking for lawful purposes.” Comments are due in docket 91-281 March 17, replies March 24. "I am pleased that we are taking quick action to address this issue and hope that this waiver will help Jewish Community Centers, telecommunications carriers, and law enforcement agencies track down the perpetrators of these crimes," Pai said in a statement. Schumer applauds "the FCC’s decision to grant a special waiver to targeted JCCs, which will help us track down and identify perpetrators making threatening calls that frighten communities and waste the precious resources of local law enforcement,” he responded. "Already, one suspect has been taken into custody and I am hopeful today’s decision will help catch and deter any future copycats. All communities and entities targeted by intimidation and fear deserve access to all of the tools needed to ensure these criminals are brought to justice."