BILL NUMBER: AB 1733 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Reyes, Campbell, Correa, Levine,
and Matthews
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Berg, Chavez, Chu, Diaz, Firebaugh,
Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Laird, Leno, Lieber, Lowenthal, Montanez,
Nakano, Ridley-Thomas, Steinberg, and Wesson)
(Coauthors: Senators Bowen and Sher)
MARCH 5, 2003
An act to amend Section 2891.1 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1733, as amended, Reyes. Telecommunications: selling or
licensing lists of subscribers.
Under existing law, the Federal Communications Commission licenses
and partially regulates providers of commercial mobile radio
service, including providers of cellular radiotelephone service,
broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS), and digital
Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) services (collectively, mobile
telephony service providers). Under existing law, no state or local
government may regulate the entry of, or the rates charged by, any
commercial mobile radio service, but is generally not prohibited from
regulating the other terms and conditions of commercial mobile radio
service.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory
authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations.
Existing law authorizes the commission to regulate telecommunications
services and rates of telephone corporations, except to the extent
regulation of commercial mobile radio service is preempted by federal
regulation. Existing law prohibits a telephone corporation selling
or licensing lists of residential subscribers, from including the
telephone number of any subscriber assigned an unpublished or
unlisted access number, as defined, without his or her written waiver
of this protection.
This bill would permit a subscriber to waive the above described
prohibition upon against including the
telephone number of a subscriber assigned an unpublished or unlisted
access number. The bill would prohibit a provider of mobile
telephony services, as defined, providing the name and dialing number
of a subscriber for inclusion in a directory, from including the
dialing number of any subscriber without first obtaining the express
consent of that subscriber. The bill would establish certain
requirements for the provider's form for obtaining the subscriber's
express consent. A subscriber would be permitted to revoke his or
her consent to inclusion in a directory and would require that the
mobile telephony services provider comply with the subscriber's
request to opt out within 30 days. The bill would prohibit a
provider of mobile telephony services or an affiliate or agent, from
publishing any directory database, or any portion or segment of a
directory database. The bill would prohibit a provider of mobile
telephony services or an affiliate or agent, from selling any
directory database, or any portion or segment of a directory
database, to a third party.
This bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent
upon the enactment of SB 199.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2891.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
2891.1. (a) Notwithstanding Section 2891, a telephone corporation
selling or licensing lists of residential subscribers shall not
include the telephone number of any subscriber assigned an unlisted
or unpublished access number. A subscriber may waive all or part of
the protection provided by this subdivision through written notice to
the telephone corporation.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 2891, a provider of mobile telephony
services providing the name and dialing number of a subscriber for
inclusion in any directory, shall not include the dialing number of
any subscriber without first obtaining the express consent of that
subscriber. The provider's form for obtaining the subscriber's
express consent shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1) It shall be a separate document that is not attached to any
other document.
(2) It shall be signed and dated by the subscriber.
(3) It shall be unambiguous, legible, and in a minimum 10-point
type, and conspicuously disclose that, by signing, the subscriber is
consenting to have the subscriber's dialing number sold or
licensed as part of a list of subscribers and the subscriber's
dialing number may be included in a publicly available
directory.
(4) If under the subscriber's calling plan the subscriber may be
billed for receiving unsolicited calls or text messaging from a
telemarketer, the provider's form shall include a disclosure, which
shall be unambiguous, legible, and in 10-point type at a minimum,
that by consenting to have the subscriber's dialing number
sold or licensed as part of a list of subscribers or be
included in a publicly available directory, the subscriber may incur
additional charges for receiving unsolicited calls or text messages.
(c) A subscriber who provides express prior consent pursuant to
subdivision (b) may revoke that consent at any time. A provider of
mobile telephony services shall comply with the subscriber's request
to opt out within 30 days.
(d) A subscriber shall not be charged for making the choice to not
be listed in a directory.
(e) A provider of mobile telephony services, or any direct or
indirect affiliate or agent of a provider, may not publish, in
printed, electronic, or other form, the contents of any directory
database, or any portion or segment thereof.
(f) A provider of mobile telephony services, or any direct or
indirect affiliate or agent of a provider, may not sell to a third
party the contents of any directory database, or any portion or
segment thereof.
(g) This section does not apply to the provision of telephone
numbers to the following parties for the purposes indicated:
(1) To a collection agency, to the extent disclosures made by the
agency are supervised by the commission, exclusively for the
collection of unpaid debts.
(2) (A) To any law enforcement agency, fire protection agency,
public health agency, public environmental health agency, city or
county emergency services planning agency, or private for-profit
agency operating under contract with, and at the direction of, one or
more of these agencies, for the exclusive purpose of responding to a
911 call or communicating an imminent threat to life or property.
(B) Any information or records provided to a private for-profit
agency pursuant to this subdivision shall be held in confidence by
that agency and by any individual employed by or associated with that
agency. This information or these records shall not be open to
examination for any purpose not directly connected with the
administration of the services specified in subdivision (e) of
Section 2872 or this paragraph.
(3) To a lawful process issued under state or federal law.
(4) To a telephone corporation providing service between service
areas for the provision to the subscriber of telephone service
between service areas, or to third parties for the limited purpose of
providing billing services.
(5) To a telephone corporation to effectuate a customer's
request to transfer the customer's assigned telephone number from the
customer's existing provider of telecommunications services to a new
provider of telecommunications services.
(6) To the commission pursuant to its jurisdiction and
control over telephone and telegraph corporations.
(h) Every deliberate violation of this section is grounds for a
civil suit by the aggrieved subscriber against the organization or
corporation and its employees responsible for the violation.
(i) For purposes of this section, "unpublished or unlisted access
number" means a telephone, telex, teletex, facsimile, computer modem,
or any other code number that is assigned to a subscriber by a
telephone or telegraph corporation for the receipt of communications
initiated by other telephone or telegraph customers and that the
subscriber has requested that the telephone or telegraph corporation
keep in confidence.
(j) No telephone corporation, nor any official or employee
thereof, shall be subject to criminal or civil liability for the
release of customer information as authorized by this section.
(k) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision
of this section or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other
provisions or applications of this section that can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application.
(l) For purposes of this section, "mobile telephony services"
means commercially available interconnected mobile phone services
that provide access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN)
via mobile communication devices employing radio wave technology to
transmit calls, including cellular radiotelephone, broadband Personal
Communications Services (PCS), and digital Specialized Mobile Radio
(SMR). "Mobile telephony services" does not include mobile satellite
services or mobile data services used exclusively for the delivery
of nonvoice information to a mobile device.
SEC. 2. This act shall become operative only if Senate Bill 199 of
the 2003-04 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or
before January 1, 2005.