PRINTER'S NO. 1235
No. 1089 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY HERMAN, LAUGHLIN, LEH, READSHAW, STABACK, BAKER,
BELARDI, BELFANTI, CHADWICK, CIVERA, COY, CURRY, FAIRCHILD,
FLICK, GEIST, HARHART, MAHER, MAITLAND, MANDERINO, MELIO,
MICHLOVIC, MUNDY, NAILOR, PESCI, PLATTS, RAMOS, B. SMITH,
STEELMAN, STERN, SURRA, TIGUE, TRELLO, TRICH, VAN HORNE,
WALKO, WASHINGTON, YEWCIC AND YOUNGBLOOD, MARCH 24, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, MARCH 24, 1999
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of December 4, 1996 (P.L.911, No.147), entitled
2 "An act providing for registration requirements for
3 telemarketers and for powers and duties of the Office of
4 Attorney General," further providing for unlawful acts and
5 penalties.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 5(a)(2) of the act of December 4, 1996
9 (P.L.911, No.147), known as the Telemarketer Registration Act,
10 is amended to read:
11 Section 5. Unlawful acts and penalties.
12 (a) Acts enumerated.--The following acts are prohibited:
13 * * *
14 (2) Initiating an outbound telephone call to a [person
15 when that person previously has stated that he or she does
16 not wish to receive an outbound telephone call made by or on
17 behalf of the seller whose goods or services are being
1 offered. A seller or telemarketer will not be liable for
2 violating the provisions of this paragraph if:
3 (i) he has established and implemented written
4 procedures to comply with this paragraph;
5 (ii) he has trained his personnel in the procedures;
6 (iii) the seller or the telemarketer acting on
7 behalf of the seller has maintained and recorded lists of
8 persons who may not be contacted; and
9 (iv) any subsequent call is the result of error.]
10 customer who has chosen to be a nonsolicitation telephone
11 customer. For the purpose of this paragraph, a
12 nonsolicitation telephone customer is any of the following:
13 (i) A person who has notified his or her local
14 exchange telecommunications company, as defined under 66
15 Pa.C.S. § 3002 (relating to definitions), that he or she
16 does not wish to receive an outbound telephone call made
17 by or on behalf of a seller whose goods or services are
18 being offered.
19 (A) The Office of Attorney General shall
20 promulgate regulations to provide for notification
21 procedures. Neither the regulations nor the local
22 exchange telecommunications company may require the
23 customer to provide more information to the local
24 exchange telecommunications company than is currently
25 required to print a residential listing in a local
26 telephone directory of general circulation.
27 (B) The local exchange telecommunications
28 company shall inform all of its residential
29 customers, in a manner established by the
30 regulations, of the notification procedures the
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1 customer must follow.
2 (ii) A person who is identified in his or her local
3 telephone directory as a nonsolicitation telephone
4 customer. The local exchange telecommunications company
5 shall ensure that these customers are designated
6 nonsolicitation telephone customers in the local exchange
7 telecommunications company's residential telephone
8 directory listings in a manner which is clear and
9 recognizable.
10 (A) The Office of Attorney General shall
11 promulgate regulations to ensure a customer, who
12 notifies a local exchange telecommunications company
13 for the purpose of choosing to become a
14 nonsolicitation telephone customer, is identified in
15 the local telephone directory as a nonsolicitation
16 customer.
17 (B) If the local exchange telecommunications
18 company does not publish a local telephone directory,
19 the regulations shall provide for the identification
20 of nonsolicitation customers in a local telephone
21 directory of general circulation.
22 (C) If the person who has chosen to be a
23 nonsolicitation telephone customer has an unlisted
24 telephone number or at any time requests an unlisted
25 telephone number, this subparagraph shall not apply.
26 (iii) A person who is identified on a list of
27 nonsolicitation telephone customers compiled by the
28 Office of Attorney General and derived from information
29 provided to the Office of Attorney General by a local
30 exchange telecommunications company.
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1 (A) The Office of Attorney General shall
2 promulgate regulations providing for the information
3 necessary to compile the nonsolicitation telephone
4 customer list, for a fee for the nonsolicitation
5 telephone customer list and for the requirements and
6 frequency with which the local exchange
7 telecommunications company must provide the
8 information to the Office of Attorney General.
9 Neither the regulations nor the local exchange
10 telecommunications company may require the customer
11 to provide more information to the local exchange
12 telecommunications company or the Office of Attorney
13 General than is currently required to print a
14 residential listing in a local telephone directory of
15 general circulation.
16 (B) The nonsolicitation telephone customer list
17 shall be provided to each telemarketer required to
18 register under section 3(a). All other telemarketers
19 shall obtain the nonsolicitation telephone customer
20 list from the Office of Attorney General.
21 * * *
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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