[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 122 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 122

To amend section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the 
   use of the text, graphic, or image messaging systems of wireless 
     telephone systems to transmit unsolicited commercial messages.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2003

   Mr. Holt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the 
   use of the text, graphic, or image messaging systems of wireless 
     telephone systems to transmit unsolicited commercial messages.

    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 ``Wireless Telephone Spam Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

     The Congress finds that--
            (1) it is estimated that more than 134,000,000 people in 
        the United States currently subscribe to wireless telephone 
        service and that the percentage of people in the United States 
        who subscribe to such a service will increase in the future;
            (2) advances in technology have made it increasingly easy 
        to transmit information, including messages in text, graphics, 
        and images, to wireless telephones;
            (3) the privacy of personal information and the protection 
        of one's personal time is an issue of increasing concern to 
        people throughout the United States;
            (4) prudent consumer protections must keep pace with 
        advances in communications technology to ensure protection of 
        privacy and personal time; and
            (5) to protect the privacy of wireless telephone 
        subscribers, transmission of unsolicited commercial messages on 
        wireless telephone text, graphic, and image messaging systems 
        should be prohibited.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF TRANSMISSION OF UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL MESSAGES.

    (a) Prohibition.--Section 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 227(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(E) to use any covered messaging system to 
                transmit an unsolicited advertisement.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)(C), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``, except that the Commission may not 
        exempt under this subparagraph any call that violates the 
        prohibition under paragraph (1)(E)''.
    (b) Definition.--Section 227(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(47 U.S.C. 227(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as 
        paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(2) The term `covered messaging system' means a messaging 
        system capable of providing text, graphic, or image messages 
        (including a short message service and systems using the 
        wireless application protocol) that--
                    ``(A) is provided as part of a commercial mobile 
                service (as such term is defined in section 332(d)); 
                and
                    ``(B) provides access to the text, graphic, or 
                image messages on the same handset used to access voice 
                messages.''.
    (c) Effect on State Law.--Subparagraph (A) of section 227(e)(1) of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(e)(1)) is amended by 
inserting ``(including any text, graphic, or image messaging system 
that is provided as part of a commercial mobile service)'' after 
``electronic devices''.
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