AB 93

Current law regulates "telephone solicitation," which is defined as the

unsolicited initiation of a telephone conversation for the purpose of encouraging the

recipient of the telephone call to purchase property, goods, or services. Generally,

under current law, a telephone solicitor may not make a telephone solicitation to a

residential customer if the customer's telephone number is included in a

nonsolicitation directory, maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and

Consumer Protection (DATCP), listing residential customers who do not wish to

receive telephone solicitations. Under current law, the regulation of telephone

solicitations does not apply to a nonprofit organization.

This bill expands the definition of "telephone solicitation" to include a telephone

call initiated using an automatic dialing announcing device. Under the bill, an

"automatic dialing announcing device" means a device that dials a telephone number

and disseminates a prerecorded or synthesized voice message. As a result, the bill

prohibits using an automatic dialing announcing device to initiate an unsolicited

telephone call, if the recipient of the call is included in the DATCP directory. The

prohibition does not apply to calls initiated using an automatic dialing announcing

device from a school or school district to a student, parent of a student, or employee;

from a person who has a current business or personal relationship with the recipient;

or from a governmental unit to alert the recipient to a danger to the recipient's health

or safety.