BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2721
Author: Wesson (D), et al
Amended: 8/25/00 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/27/00
AYES: Bowen, Alarcon, Hughes, Kelley, Mountjoy, Murray,
Solis, Vasconcellos
SENATE FLOOR : 15-13, 8/29/00
AYES: Alarcon, Chesbro, Dunn, Escutia, Hughes, Karnette,
Murray, O'Connell, Ortiz, Peace, Perata, Sher, Solis,
Soto, Speier
NOES: Brulte, Haynes, Johnson, Kelley, Knight, Lewis,
McPherson, Monteith, Morrow, Mountjoy, Poochigian,
Rainey, Wright
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-25, 5/30/00 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Automatic dialing-announcing devices
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill prohibits leaving a pre-recorded
message without receiving authorization from a live person,
except in specified situations.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/25/00 allow the California
public Utilities Commission to establish an acceptable
level of "hand up" telephone calls.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : Current state law prohibits, with specified
exemptions, the use of automatic dialing-announcing devices
(e.g. automated dialers broadcasting pre-recorded
announcements) between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. Any person
or company who violates this law is guilty of a
misdemeanor, subject to one year in county jail and/or a
maximum fine of $1,000.
Current state law requires when such devices are used, the
person receiving the call must be greeted by a live
operator who must ask whether the called party will give
his or her consent to hear the pre-recorded announcement.
This bill requires any company using automated dialers to
ensure that, by July 1, 2001, every call they make have a
live operator greet the called person - instead of
terminating the call if the automated dialing device dials
faster than the live operator can get to the call.
This bill clarifies that when the user of the automated
dialer reaches an answering machine, consent is not implied
and no message may be left.
The bill allows the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) to establish an acceptable error rate of calls for
which a live operator does not greet the called person or
the call is otherwise terminated.
The bill also provides the CPUC with the authority to
require appropriate records.
Background
An "abandoned telephone call" is a phenomenon that occurs
when computers dial telephone calls quicker than the live
operators can pick them up in order to comply with the law
requiring phone call recipients to be greeted by a live
voice. Such calls are the consequence of predictive
dialers, a form of automated dialing where a computer dials
telephone numbers from a database while telemarketers talk
with potential customers. Predictive dialers dial based on
a statistical average of how long the average telemarketer
conversation will last and the likelihood a person will
answer their telephone. Because the system is based on a
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"statistical average," inevitably some called parties will
be greeted by silence.
Telemarketing has long been the subject of legislation and
is often associated with solicitations for long-distance
telephone service. Over the past three years, a number of
bills have been introduced in the Legislature to limit
telemarketing, but none of them have been successful - with
the exception of a "do-not-call" list for the solicitation
of electric service (SB 477 [Peace], Chapter 275, Statutes
of 1997).
Current federal law bans telemarketing between 9:00 p.m.
and 8:00 a.m. and generally conditions the use of automatic
dialing-announcing devices in ways similar to California
law.
Comments
By allowing an acceptable error rate, the provisions of the
bill will be much more difficult to enforce as the
determination of a violation will be predicated on the CPUC
obtaining and evaluating the company's records. Under the
previous version of the bill, which allows for zero errors,
every unanswered call is a violation.
Hang Up On The Hang-Ups . The author believes abandoned
telephone calls are annoying, an invasion of privacy, and
potentially threatening to certain individuals. This,
according to supporters, is at minimum a nuisance, and it
potentially brings an element of fear to some people who
may think someone is watching their home and/or their
movements.
How Will This Be Enforced ? Current law preventing
telemarketers from calling between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.,
prohibiting the use of pre-recorded messages without a live
operator introduction, and banning pre-recorded messages
from being left on answering machines is, at least
conceptually, easy to enforce from the standpoint that the
recipient of the call will know which company made it.
Under this bill, if a person gets an "abandoned call," it's
highly unlikely they'll be able to know whether it was a
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company using an automated dialing device that hung up on
them and if so, which company made the call. Granted, a
person could have a Caller ID box (telemarketers are
precluded by law from blocking their numbers to hide them
from a Caller ID box) to help identify the caller, but
arguably any business that would violate this proposed law
probably wouldn't be adverse to violating the state's "no
blocking" law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Minor, absorbable costs, offset by fine revenue, to the
Public Utilities Commission and the Attorney General for
enforcement.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/16/00)
Office of Ratepayer Advocates
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
The Utility Reform Network
Utility Consumer Action Network
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/16/00)
California Association of Realtors
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Alquist, Aroner, Bock, Calderon, Cardenas, Cardoza,
Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, Davis, Ducheny, Dutra,
Firebaugh, Florez, Floyd, Frusetta, Gallegos, Havice,
Honda, Jackson, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Lempert, Longville,
Lowenthal, Machado, Mazzoni, Migden, Nakano, Oller,
Papan, Pescetti, Reyes, Romero, Scott, Shelley,
Steinberg, Strom-Martin, Thomson, Torlakson,
Villaraigosa, Vincent, Washington, Wayne, Wesson,
Wiggins, Wildman, Wright, Hertzberg
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Baldwin, Bates, Battin,
Baugh, Brewer, Briggs, Campbell, Cox, Dickerson, House,
Kaloogian, Leach, Leonard, Margett, McClintock, Olberg,
Robert Pacheco, Rod Pacheco, Runner, Strickland,
Thompson, Zettel
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NC:sl 8/30/00 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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