Wisconsin Bill Would Ban Prank Calls

Representatives claim this has nothing whatsoever to do with the recent Koch-related prank call to Gov. Scott Walker, but the timing sure is odd: Wisconsin is considering a bill that would make such prank calls illegal. Two Republican state legislators authored the bill, which would ban any caller from pretending to be someone else for malicious reasons, and began circulating it Monday.

Callers would also not be allowed to provide a fake phone number or mask their voices, and anyone found to be in violation would face a fine from $1,000 to $10,000 per call, the Badger Herald reports. “While use of spoofing is said to have some legitimate uses, it can also be used to frighten, harass, and potentially defraud,” say the bill's authors in an email. (Click to read about a guy who made 18,000 crank calls.)