BILL NUMBER: SB 402 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Senator Campbell
FEBRUARY 17, 2005
An act to amend Section 2891.1 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 402, as amended, Campbell. Telecommunications.
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telephone number of any subscriber assigned an unpublished or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. Existing law permits a subscriber to
waive this later provision. Existing law prohibits a
provider of mobile telephony services, as defined, or any affiliate
or agent of the provider, providing the name and dialing number of a
subscriber for inclusion in a directory or directory database, from
including the dialing number of any subscriber without first
obtaining the express consent of that subscriber. Existing law
establishes certain requirements for the provider's form for
obtaining the subscriber's express consent ,
including that the form be a separate document that is not attached
to any other document, that the form be signed by the subscriber, and
if the subscriber may be billed for unsolicited calls or text
messages from a telemarketer, a requirement that the form
unambiguously disclose that by consenting to having his or her
dialing number included in a publicly available directory, the
subscriber may incur additional charges for receiving unsolicited
calls or tex t messages .
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to
amend these subscriber privacy requirements to make them consistent
with modern business practices that allow subscribers to activate
mobile telephony services over the telephone and over the Internet
revise the existing requirements for a provider of
mobile telephony services to obtain the subscriber's express consent
for inclusion of the dialing number of the subscriber in a directory,
by additionally allowing the express consent to be a response made
on a separate field on an Internet Web site, or a response to a
separate question asked of the subscriber that calls a customer
service center. The bill would delete the requirements that the form
be signed by the subscriber and the requirement that for those
subscribers that may be billed for unsolicited calls or text messages
from a telemarketer, that the form unambiguously disclose that by
consenting to having his or her dialing number included in a publicly
available directory, the subscriber may incur additional charges for
receiving unsolicited calls or text messages .
Existing law prohibits a subscriber from being charged for making
the choice to not be listed in a directory.
This bill would instead prohibit a subscriber from being charged
for making the choice to not be listed in a publicly available
directory assistance database.
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, or any direct or indirect affiliate or agent of a provider,
providing the name and dialing number of a subscriber for inclusion
in any directory of any form, or selling the contents of any
directory database, or any portion or segment thereof, 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 , a response made on a separate field on an
Internet Web site, or a response to a separate question asked of the
subscriber that calls a customer service center .
(2) It shall be signed and dated by the subscriber.
(3)
(2) It shall be unambiguous, legible, and conspicuously
disclose that, by signing opting in ,
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 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.
made available to directory assistance.
(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 a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 60 days.
(d) A subscriber shall not be charged for making the choice to not
be listed in a directory publicly available
directory assistance database .
(e) 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.
(f) 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.
(g) 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.
(h) 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.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature to amend this section to
make it consistent with modern business practices that allow
subscribers to activate mobile telephony services over the telephone
and over the Internet.