AB 634

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. Current law

generally prohibits a telephone solicitor, or employee or contractor of a telephone

solicitor, from making a telephone solicitation to a residential customer if the

customer's landline or wireless telephone number is included in a nonsolicitation

directory maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer

Protection (DATCP), which lists residential customers who do not wish to receive

telephone solicitations. Current law exempts the following from the prohibition: 1)

telephone solicitations made by nonprofit organizations; 2) telephone solicitations

made in response to a recipient's request; and 3) telephone solicitations made to

current clients of the person selling property, goods, or services that are the reason

for the solicitation. Current law requires DATCP to promulgate rules requiring that

telephone solicitors register with DATCP and pay initial registration and annual

registration renewal fees to DATCP, which DATCP must use for establishing and

maintaining the nonsolicitation directory, as well as for consumer protection,

information, and education. Current law prohibits a telephone solicitor who is not

registered from requiring that employees or contractors make telephone

solicitations in this state. Current law also provides that if a residential customer

does not biennially renew his or her listing in the nonsolicitation directory, DATCP

must eliminate the customer's telephone number from the directory.

Federal law also regulates telephone solicitations by authorizing the Federal

Trade Commission (FTC) to prohibit deceptive and abusive telemarketing acts or

practices. Under that authority, the FTC has promulgated a regulation that, with

certain exceptions, prohibits a telemarketer from initiating a telephone call

encouraging the purchase of goods or services if the recipient's telephone number is

on a national "do-not-call" registry maintained by the FTC that consists of the

telephone numbers of persons who do not wish to receive such calls. One of the

exceptions applies to telemarketing calls to businesses. Federal law requires

telemarketers to pay annual fees in order to access the registry. The FTC allows a

person to add a landline or wireless telephone number to the registry through a

toll-free number or over the Internet. Under federal law, inclusion of a telephone

number in the registry is permanent and a person is not required to periodically

renew the inclusion. However, a person may remove a telephone number from the

registry and the FTC must periodically review the registry and remove telephone

numbers that have been disconnected or reassigned to another person.

This bill eliminates the state's nonsolicitation directory and instead prohibits

a telephone solicitor, or employee or contractor of a telephone solicitor, from making

a telephone solicitation, as defined under current state law, to a landline or wireless

telephone number that is included on a "state do-not-call registry," which the bill