PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 1919 M St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 DA 97-1243 June 13, 1997 FCC UPDATES LIST OF COUNTRIES PROVIDING INFORMATION ON FOREIGN LAW RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL CALL-BACK In 1995, the Commission issued an order which confirmed that international call-back using uncompleted call signalling does not violate U.S. domestic or international law. The Commission ruled, however, that U.S. carriers are not authorized to provide call-back using uncompleted call signalling to customers in countries which expressly have declared that call- back is illegal (see 10 FCC Rcd 9540 (1995)). To facilitate U.S. carrier compliance with this provision, the Commission maintains a public file to receive documentation regarding the legality of international call-back in foreign countries. The International Bureau updates this public file and periodically publishes a list of countries that have submitted material. Since the last public notice was released, we have received documentation regarding the status of international call-back from additional countries. Currently, the public file contains information on the legal status of international call-back in the following nations: The Bahamas, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Netherlands Antilles, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Additional material recently has been added to some pre-existing country files. Material contained in the public file is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a Commission finding that the submission would be valid evidence of illegality in a Commission proceeding. In addition to the country-specific documentation submitted to the Commission, the public file also contains a 1996 International Telecommunication Union survey regarding the legality of international call-back in 67 countries. Again, this material is made available for informational purposes only. The Commission's 1995 order also provides that any government which has been unable to enforce its laws prohibiting international call-back may seek the assistance of the Commission by submitting the following information: specific documentation of its legal restrictions prohibiting international call-back using uncompleted call signalling; evidence of violations by particular U.S. providers; and a description of its enforcement measures. To date, two countries, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, have submitted enough information for the Commission to begin contacting those U.S. providers identified as providing international call-back to customers in these countries. The International Bureau will continue to publish periodically a list of countries which have submitted documentation to the public file. Interested parties may inspect the information in the public file, designated as "International Call-Back: Foreign Law," located in the International Bureau's public reference room, Room 102, 2000 M Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20554. The list of countries that have submitted material to the public file is updated periodically on the Commission's World Wide Web site, . For further information, contact Jeanne Gellman at (202) 418-0743 or Adam Krinsky at (202) 418-1099. Copies of the information may be obtained from the Commission's contractor for public service records duplication: ITS, Inc., 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140, Washington, DC 20037 ((202) 857-3800). -FCC-