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DA
04-1738
Released: June 18, 2004
FCC
Reminds Public of Requirements Regarding
Internet Relay Service and Issues Alert
The FCC has
recently received several inquiries
concerning the appropriate use of IP Relay
Service, a form of Telecommunications Relay
Service (TRS), and issues this Public Notice
to provide guidance to consumers, TRS
providers, and merchants that conduct
business via telephone. In addition, this
Public Notice is intended to alert the
public regarding the fraudulent use of IP
Relay Service, and to suggest steps they can
take to avoid becoming victims.
TRS
enables an individual with a hearing or
speech disability to communicate by
telephone with a person without such a
disability. This is accomplished through
TRS facilities that are staffed by specially
trained communications assistants (CAs)
using special technology. The CA relays
conversations between persons using various
types of assistive communication devices and
persons who do not require such assistive
devices. In a traditional text-based TRS
call, the caller types the number of the TRS
facility and, after reaching the facility,
types the number of the party he or she
desires to call. The CA, in turn, places an
outbound voice call to the called party.
The CA serves as the "link" in the
conversation, converting all TTY messages
from the caller into voice messages, and all
voice messages from the called party into
typed messages for the TTY user. The
process is performed in reverse when a voice
telephone user initiates a traditional TRS
call to a TTY user. TRS also includes Video
Relay Services (VRS), Internet Protocol (IP)
relay, and Speech-to-Speech (STS).
IP Relay is a
form of TRS that uses the internet, rather
than the Public Switched Telephone Network,
to place the leg of the call from the person
with a hearing or speech disability to the
TRS CA. The IP Relay user establishes a
local connection to an Internet service
provider (ISP) using a computer, web phone,
personal digital assistant (PDA) or any
other IP-capable device. The IP Relay user
then reaches a CA by directing the web
browser to one of the IP Relay providers’
web sites. When the IP Relay user is
connected to the IP Relay service provider,
the user is immediately routed to a CA, who
then makes the outbound call to the hearing
person and relays the call between the
parties.
The Commission has received complaints from
vendors, consumers, and TRS providers that
people are using the IP Relay to make
telephone purchases using stolen or fake
credit cards. Although such purchases are
illegal, and the Department of Justice and
the FBI can investigate, due to the
transparent nature of the CA’s role in a TRS
call the CA may not interfere with the
conversation. The TRS statutory and
regulatory scheme do not contemplate that
the CA should have a law enforcement role by
monitoring the conversations they are
relaying.
The Federal
Trade Commission is aware of this problem
and has instructed that persons who have
been defrauded should contact the FTC
directly at
www.ftc.gov or 877-FTC-HELP. The
FBI also has a website for complaints and
information regarding internet crimes:
www.ic3.gov.
Since this
type of fraud first became apparent, the TRS
Providers have worked to develop methods to
determine which IP Relay calls are
fraudulent, and therefore have been able to
prevent many of these calls from reaching
the intended victims. This has been
achieved without negatively impacting
legitimate users of the service, according
to the IP Relay providers. However, this is
still a concern and merchants should report
any fraudulent activity to the FTC, FBI, or
their state authorities.
We encourage
vendors that accept orders for their goods
and services by telephone to take steps to
ensure that, when they receive a TRS call,
the credit card is valid and the purchaser
is authorized to use the particular credit
card, just as they would do with any other
telephone order. We also remind vendors
that Title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) does not
permit merchants to treat persons with a
hearing or speech disability differently
than they treat others. Therefore, if they
accept telephone orders from the general
public, they cannot refuse to accept them
from persons with hearing or speech
disabilities using TRS. For more
information on the applicability of the ADA
in this context, see generally the United
States Department of Justice’s ADA homepage,
at
www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm or
contact the DOJ ADA Information Line at
800-5145-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0663 (TTY).
The full
text of this document is available for
public inspection and copying during regular
business hours at the FCC Reference
Information Center, Portals, II, 445 12th
Street, SW, Room CY-A257, Washington, DC
20554. This document may be purchased from
the Commission’s duplicating contractor,
Best Copy and Printing, Inc., Portals II,
445 12th Street, SW, Room
CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. Customers
may contact BCPI, Inc. at their web site:
www.bcpiweb.com or call 1-800-378-3160.
To
request materials in accessible formats for
people with disabilities (braille, large
print, electronic files, audio format), send
an e-mail to
fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer &
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202)
418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
This Public Notice can also be
downloaded in Word and Portable Format at
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb.dro.
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Contact: Dana Jackson, (202) 418-2247
(voice), (202) 48-7898 (TTY); e-mail
dana.jackson@fcc.gov. |
