[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1661 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1661

    To require the Federal Trade Commission to establish a list of 
      consumers who request not to receive telephone sales calls.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 25, 2003

   Mr. Dodd introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Federal Trade Commission to establish a list of 
      consumers who request not to receive telephone sales calls.

    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 ``Telemarketing Intrusive Practices 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Caller identification service or device.--The term 
        ``caller identification service or device'' means a telephone 
        service or device that permits a consumer to see the telephone 
        number of an incoming call.
            (2) Chairman.--The term ``Chairman'' means the Chairman of 
        the Federal Trade Commission.
            (3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (4) Consumer.--The term ``consumer'' means an individual 
        who is an actual or prospective purchaser, lessee, or recipient 
        of consumer goods or services.
            (5) Consumer goods or services.--The term ``consumer good 
        or service'' means an article or service that is purchased, 
        leased, exchanged, or received primarily for personal, family, 
        or household purposes, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 
        annuities, credit cards, and other financial products.
            (6) Marketing or sales solicitation.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``marketing or sales 
                solicitation'' means the initiation of a telephone call 
                or message to encourage the purchase of, rental of, or 
                investment in, property, goods, or services, that is 
                transmitted to a person.
                    (B) Exception.--The term does not include a call or 
                message--
                            (i) to a person with the prior express 
                        invitation or permission of that person;
                            (ii) by a tax-exempt nonprofit 
                        organization;
                            (iii) on behalf of a political candidate or 
                        political party; or
                            (iv) to promote the success or defeat of a 
                        referendum question.
            (7) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States of the United States and the District of Columbia.
            (8) Telephone sales call.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``telephone sales call'' 
                means a call made by a telephone solicitor to a 
                consumer for the purpose of--
                            (i) engaging in a marketing or sales 
                        solicitation, including a solicitation for a 
                        new consumer good or service where the consumer 
                        and the telephone solicitor had a prior 
                        relationship;
                            (ii) soliciting an extension of credit for 
                        consumer goods or services; or
                            (iii) obtaining information that will or 
                        may be used for the direct marketing or sales 
                        solicitation or exchange of or extension of 
                        credit for consumer goods or services.
                    (B) Exception.--The term does not include a call 
                made--
                            (i) in response to an express request of 
                        the person called; or
                            (ii) primarily in connection with an 
                        existing debt or contract, payment, or 
                        performance that has not been completed at the 
                        time of the call.
            (9) Telephone solicitor.--The term ``telephone solicitor'' 
        means an individual, association, corporation, partnership, 
        limited partnership, limited liability company or other 
        business entity, or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof, that 
        does business in the United States and makes or causes to be 
        made a telephone sales call.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION NO CALL LIST.

    (a) In General.--The Commission shall--
            (1) establish and maintain a list for each State, of 
        consumers who request not to receive telephone sales calls; and
            (2) provide notice to consumers of the establishment of the 
        lists.
    (b) State Contract.--The Commission may contract with a State to 
establish and maintain the lists.
    (c) Private Contract.--The Commission may contract with a private 
vendor to establish and maintain the lists if the private vendor has 
maintained a national listing of consumers who request not to receive 
telephone sales calls, for not less than 2 years, or is otherwise 
determined by the Commission to be qualified.
    (d) Consumer Responsibility.--
            (1) Inclusion on list.--Except as provided in subsection 
        (d)(2), a consumer who wishes to be included on a list 
        established under subsection (a) shall notify the Commission in 
        such manner as the Chairman may prescribe to maximize the 
        consumer's opportunity to be included on that list.
            (2) Deletion from list.--Information about a consumer shall 
        be deleted from a list upon the written request of the 
        consumer.
    (e) Update.--The Commission shall--
            (1) update the lists maintained by the Commission not less 
        than quarterly with information the Commission receives from 
        consumers; and
            (2) annually request a no call list from each State that 
        maintains a no call list and update the lists maintained by the 
        Commission at that time to ensure that the lists maintained by 
the Commission contain the same information contained in the no call 
lists maintained by individual States.
    (f) Fees.--The Commission may charge a reasonable fee for providing 
a list.
    (g) Availability.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall make a list available 
        only to a telephone solicitor.
            (2) Format.--The list shall be made available in printed or 
        electronic format, or both, at the discretion of the Chairman.

SEC. 4. TELEPHONE SOLICITOR NO CALL LIST.

    (a) In General.--A telephone solicitor shall maintain a list of 
consumers who request not to receive telephone sales calls from that 
particular telephone solicitor.
    (b) Procedure.--If a consumer receives a telephone sales call and 
requests to be placed on the do not call list of that telephone 
solicitor, the solicitor shall--
            (1) place the consumer on the no call list of the 
        solicitor; and
            (2) provide the consumer with a confirmation number which 
        shall provide confirmation of the request of the consumer to be 
        placed on the no call list of that telephone solicitor.

SEC. 5. TELEPHONE SOLICITATIONS.

    (a) Telephone Sales Call.--A telephone solicitor may not make or 
cause to be made a telephone sales call to a consumer--
            (1) if the name and telephone number of the consumer appear 
        in the then current quarterly lists made available by the 
        Commission under section 3;
            (2) if the consumer previously requested to be placed on 
        the do not call list of the telephone solicitor pursuant to 
        section 4;
            (3) to be received between the hours of nine o'clock p.m. 
        and nine o'clock a.m. and between five o'clock p.m. and seven 
        o'clock p.m., local time, at the location of the consumer;
            (4) in the form of an electronically transmitted facsimile; 
        or
            (5) by use of an automated dialing or recorded message 
        device.
    (b) Caller Identification Device.--A telephone solicitor shall not 
knowingly use any method to block or otherwise circumvent the use of a 
caller identification service or device by a consumer.
    (c) Sale of Consumer Information to Telephone Solicitors.--
            (1) In general.--A person who obtains the name, residential 
        address, or telephone number of a consumer from a published 
        telephone directory or from any other source and republishes or 
        compiles that information, electronically or otherwise, and 
        sells or offers to sell that publication or compilation to a 
        telephone solicitor for marketing or sales solicitation 
        purposes, shall exclude from that publication or compilation, 
        and from the database used to prepare that publication or 
        compilation, the name, address, and telephone number of a 
        consumer if the name and telephone number of the consumer 
        appear in the then current quarterly list made available by the 
        Commission under section 3.
            (2) Exception.--This subsection does not apply to a 
        publisher of a telephone directory when a consumer is called 
        for the sole purpose of compiling, publishing, or distributing 
        a telephone directory intended for use by the general public.

SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

    The Chairman may adopt regulations to carry out this Act that shall 
include--
            (1) provisions governing the availability and distribution 
        of the lists established under section 3;
            (2) notice requirements for a consumer who requests to be 
        included on the lists established under section 3; and
            (3) a schedule for the payment of fees to be paid by a 
        person who requests a list made available under section 3.

SEC. 7. CIVIL CAUSE OF ACTION.

    (a) Action by Commission.--
            (1) Unfair or deceptive trade practice.--A violation of 
        section 4 or 5 is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under 
        section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45).
            (2) Cumulative damages.--In a civil action brought by the 
        Commission under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act 
        (15 U.S.C. 45) to recover damages arising from more than one 
        alleged violation, the damages shall be cumulative.
    (b) Private Right of Action.--
            (1) In general.--A person or entity may, if otherwise 
        permitted by the laws or the rules of court of a State, bring 
        in an appropriate court of that State--
                    (A) an action based on a violation of section 4, 5, 
                or 6 to enjoin the violation;
                    (B) an action to recover for actual monetary loss 
                from a violation of section 4, 5, or 6, or to receive 
                $500 in damages for each violation, whichever is 
                greater; or
                    (C) an action under paragraphs (1) and (2).
            (2) Willful violation.--If the court finds that the 
        defendant willfully or knowingly violated section 4, 5, or 6, 
        the court may, in the discretion of the court, increase the 
        amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 3 times 
        the amount available under paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection 
        and to include reasonable attorney's fees.

SEC. 8. EFFECT ON STATE LAW.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a State from 
enacting or enforcing more stringent legislation in the regulation of 
telephone solicitors.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to 
carry out the provisions of this Act.
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