SB 588

Under current law, certain telephone customers may request inclusion in a

directory maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer

Protection (department) that lists customers who do not wish to receive telephone

solicitations. Current law prohibits telephone solicitors from making a telephone

solicitation to a customer listed in the directory. Also under current law, no person

may send a facsimile solicitation to a person who has notified the sender that the

person does not wish to receive facsimile solicitations. If a recipient has not given

a sender such notice, current law allows an unsolicited facsimile solicitation only if

it is one page or less in length, contains the name of the sender, is made after 9 p.m.

and before 6 a.m., and is made to a person with whom the sender has had a previous

business relationship.

Under this bill, if a telecommunications utility's customer is listed in the

current nonsolicitation directory and the customer provides to the

telecommunications utility a copy of a complaint regarding a telephone solicitation

that involves the listing and that the customer has filed with the department, the

telecommunications utility must provide to the customer a written record of all the

telephone numbers from which calls to the customer originated during the

approximate time when the customer alleges that the violation occurred.

Also under the bill, if a person provides to a telecommunications utility from

whom the the person obtains basic local exchange service the date and time when the

person received a facsimile solicitation in violation of current law and provides a copy

of the facsimile solicitation, the telecommunications utility must provide to the

person a written record of the number from which the facsimile transmission was

sent to the person, as well as any additional information in the telecommunications

utility's possession regarding the identity of the sender of the facsimile transmission.

The bill provides that a telecommunications utility responding to a request for

either type of record may charge the requester not more than the actual cost to the

telecommunications utility of responding to the request.

The bill also creates a private cause of action against a person who violates the

current limitations on unsolicited facsimile solicitations. A prevailing plaintiff is

entitled to recover actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, and reasonable

attorney fees.