BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                          AB 617
                                                          Page  1

Date of Hearing:   April 19, 1999

          ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE 
                     Roderick Wright, Chair
  AB 617 (Campbell) - As Proposed To Be Amended:  April 19, 1999
  
SUBJECT  :   Telephone corporations: customer right of privacy.

  SUMMARY  :  Extends liability protections to companies providing  
one-way paging service. Specifically,  this bill  :  

1)Expands definition of "radiophone utility" to include entities  
  providing one-way paging service; and

2)Extends immunity protections to companies acting in good faith  
  with law enforcement and other government agencies. 

  EXISTING LAW  :  

1)Specifies that the disclosure of any information by an  
  interexchange telephone corporation, a local exchange  
  telephone corporation, or a commercial mobile radio service  
  provider, in good faith compliance with the terms of a state  
  or federal court warrant or order or administrative subpoena  
  issued at the request of a law official or other federal,  
  state, or local governmental agency for law enforcement  
  purposes, is a complete defense against specified civil  
  actions relating to the right of privacy;

2)Defines the term "radiotelephone utility" to mean any public  
  utility licensed by the Federal Communications Commission  
  (FCC) pursuant to specified federal regulations and certified  
  by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to  
  provide one-way and two-way radiotelephone services in this  
  state.

  FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown.

  COMMENTS :   Certain telecommunications providers are permitted  
to release information about subscribers to law enforcement  
officials and other local, state, or federal agencies upon  
issuance of a state or federal court warrant or order of  
administrative subpoena.  In these instances, the release or  
disclosure of information, without the written consent of the  
subscriber, is not subject to civil actions, relating to the  








                                                          AB 617
                                                          Page  2

subscriber's right to privacy.

This bill would extend existing liability protections to  
companies providing one-way paging service.  According to GTE,  
"without statutory protections against court actions, compliant  
telecommunications providers could be liable for court actions  
and judgments for "wrongful" investigations.  All compliant  
telecommunications providers, including one-way paging service  
providers, acting in good faith, should be immune from  
liability."

  REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

  Support  

Allied Personal Communications Industries Association of  
California (Sponsor)
GTE

  Opposition  

None on file
  
Analysis Prepared by  :    Joseph Lyons / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083