[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1340 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1340

   Entitled the ``Telephone Consumer Fraud Protection Act of 1997''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 29, 1997

  Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   Entitled the ``Telephone Consumer Fraud Protection Act of 1997''.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Telephone Consumer Fraud Protection 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

    Title 18 of the United States Code is amended in the appropriate 
place to provide the following:
            (1) Persons.--Any person who submits to a subscriber a 
        request for a change in a provider of telephone exchange 
        service or telephone toll service in willful violation of the 
        procedures established in 47 C.F.R. Sec. Sec. 64.1100 or 
        64.1150:
                    (A) shall be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned 
                not more than 30 days, or both, for the first offence; 
                and
                    (B) shall be fined not more than $10,000, 
                imprisoned not more than 9 months, or both, for any 
                subsequent offense.
            (2) Telecommunications carriers.--Any telecommunications 
        carrier who submits to a subscriber a request for a change in a 
        provider of telephone exchange service or telephone toll 
        service, or executes such a change, in willful violation of 47 
        C.F.R. Sec. Sec. 64.1100 or 64.1150:
                    (A) shall be fined not more than $50,000 for the 
                first such conviction; and
                    (B) shall be fined not more than $200,000 for any 
                subsequent conviction.

SEC. 3. A STUDY BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

    The Attorney General shall conduct a study and report to Congress 
on the fraudulent and criminal behavior of telecommunications carriers 
and their agents in the solicitation, marketing, and assignment of wire 
services. The Attorney General's study shall examine the fraudulent 
methods by which a telecommunications consumer's local, long distance, 
and other telecommunications services are changed without her or his 
knowledge or consent. The Attorney General's study shall also examine 
the negative impact and costs that such fraudulent activity is having 
on consumers and the marketplace.
                                 <all>