1.This Act may be cited as
the Notification of Origin of
Telecommunications and Internet Consumer Exchanges Act of
2011
or the NOTICE Act of 2011
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The term business entity means any
organization, corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship,
unincorporated association, or venture established to make a profit, in whole
or in part, by purposefully availing itself of the privilege of conducting
commerce in the United States.
(2)The
term commerce has the meaning given the term in section 3(a) of
the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(a)).
(3)The
term consumer means any individual within the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States who purchases, transacts, or contracts for
the purchase or transaction of any goods, merchandise, or services, not for
resale in the ordinary course of the individual's trade or business, but for
the individual's use or that of a member of the individual's household.
(4)Customer
service communicationThe term customer service
communication means any telecommunication or wire communication between
a consumer and a business entity in furtherance of commerce.
(5)The
term telecommunication means the transmission, between or among
points specified by the communicator, of information of the communicator's
choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and
received.
(6)The term wire communication or
communication by wire means the transmission of writing, signs,
signals, pictures, and sounds of all kinds by aid of wire, cable, or other like
connection between the points of origin and reception of such transmission,
including all instrumentalities, facilities, apparatus, and services (among
other things, the receipt, forwarding, and delivery of communications)
incidental to such transmission.
3.Required
disclosure by business entities engaged in customer service communications of
physical location
(a)Except as provided in subsection (b), a business entity
that either initiates or receives a customer service communication shall
require that each of its employees or agents participating in the communication
disclose their physical location at the beginning of each customer service
communication so initiated or received.
(b)
(1)Business
entities located in the United StatesThe requirements of
subsection (a) shall not apply to a customer service communication involving a
business entity if all of the employees or agents of the business entity
participating in such communication are physically located in the United
States.
(2)Communication
initiated by consumer knowingly to foreign entity or addressThe
requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to an employee or agent of a
business entity participating in a customer service communication with a
consumer if—
(A)the customer
service communication was initiated by the consumer;
(B)the employee or
agent is physically located outside the United States; and
(C)the consumer
knows or reasonably should know that the employee or agent is physically
located outside the United States.
(3)The requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to a
customer service communication relating to the provision of emergency services
(as defined by the Federal Trade Commission).
(4)Business
entities and customer service communications excluded by Federal Trade
CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission may exclude certain
classes or types of business entities or customer service communications from
the requirements of subsection (a) if the Commission finds exceptionally
compelling circumstances that justify such exclusion.
(c)Certification
requirementEach year, each business entity that participates in
a customer service communication shall certify to the Federal Trade Commission
that it has complied or failed to comply with the requirements of subsection
(a).
(d)Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall promulgate such
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(e)The requirements of subsection (a) shall apply with respect
to customer service communications occurring on or after the date that is 1
year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
4.
(a)Any failure to comply
with the provisions of section 3 shall be treated as a violation of a
regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
(b)Powers of
Federal Trade Commission
(1)The Federal Trade
Commission shall prevent any person from violating this Act, and any regulation
promulgated thereunder, in the same manner, by the same means, and with the
same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and
provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were
incorporated into and made a part of this Act.
(2)Any person who violates regulations
promulgated under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to
the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act in
the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, power, and
duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade
Commission Act were incorporated into and made part of this Act.
(c)Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission under
any other provision of law.