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92_SB1830enr SB1830 Enrolled LRB9215936WHcs 1 AN ACT concerning telephone solicitation. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 5 Restricted Call Registry Act. 6 Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: 7 (a) "Residential subscriber" means a person or spouse 8 who has subscribed to either residential telephone service 9 from a local exchange company or public mobile services, as 10 defined by Section 13-214 of the Public Utilities Act, a 11 guardian of the person or the person's spouse, or an 12 individual who has power of attorney from or an authorized 13 agent of the person or the person's spouse. 14 (b) "Established business relationship" means the 15 existence of an oral or written transaction, agreement, 16 contract, or other legal state of affairs involving a person 17 or entity and an existing customer under which both parties 18 have a course of conduct or established pattern of activity 19 for commercial or mercantile purposes and for the benefit or 20 profit of both parties. A pattern of activity does not 21 necessarily mean multiple previous contacts. The established 22 business relationship must exist between the existing 23 customer and the person or entity directly, and does not 24 extend to any related business entity or other business 25 organization of the person or entity or related to the person 26 or entity or the person or entity's agent including but not 27 limited to a parent corporation, subsidiary partnership, 28 company or other corporation or affiliate. 29 (c) "Existing customer" means an individual who has 30 either: 31 (1) entered into a transaction, agreement, SB1830 Enrolled -2- LRB9215936WHcs 1 contract, or other legal state of affairs between a 2 person or entity and a residential subscriber under which 3 the payment or exchange of consideration for any goods or 4 services has taken place within the preceding 18 months 5 or has been arranged to take place at a future time; or 6 (2) opened or maintained a debit account, credit 7 card account, or other credit or discount program offered 8 by or in conjunction with the person or entity and has 9 not requested the person or entity to close such account 10 or terminate such program. 11 (d) "Registry" means the Restricted Call Registry 12 established under this Act. 13 (e) "Telephone solicitation" means any voice 14 communication over a telephone line from a live operator, 15 through the use of an autodialer or autodialer system, as 16 defined in Section 5 of the Automatic Telephone Dialers Act, 17 or by other means for the purpose of encouraging the purchase 18 or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, 19 or for the purposes of soliciting charitable contributions 20 but does not include communications: 21 (1) to any residential subscriber with that 22 subscriber's prior express invitation or permission when 23 a voluntary 2-way communication between a person or 24 entity and a residential subscriber has occurred with or 25 without an exchange of consideration. A telephone 26 solicitation is presumed not to be made at the express 27 request of a subscriber if one of the following occurs, 28 as applicable: 29 (A) The telephone solicitation is made 30 30 business days after the last date on which the 31 subscriber contacted a business with the purpose of 32 inquiring about the potential purchase of goods or 33 services. 34 (B) The telephone solicitation is made 30 SB1830 Enrolled -3- LRB9215936WHcs 1 business days after the last date on which the 2 subscriber consented to be contacted. 3 (C) The telephone solicitation is made 30 4 business days after a product or service becomes 5 available where the subscriber has made a request to 6 the business for that product or service that is not 7 then available, and requests a call when the product 8 or service becomes available; 9 (2) by or on behalf of any person or entity with 10 whom a residential subscriber has an established business 11 relationship which has not been terminated in writing by 12 either party and which is related to the nature of the 13 established business relationship; 14 (3) by or on behalf of any person or entity with 15 whom a residential subscriber is an existing customer, 16 unless the customer has stated to the person or entity or 17 the person or entity's agent that he or she no longer 18 wishes to receive the telemarketing sales calls of the 19 person or entity, or unless the nature of the call is 20 unrelated to the established business relationship with 21 the existing customer; 22 (4) by or on behalf of an organization that is 23 exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c) 24 of the Internal Revenue Code, but only if the person 25 making the telephone solicitation immediately discloses 26 all of the following information upon making contact with 27 the consumer: 28 (A) the caller's true first and last name; and 29 (B) the name, address, and telephone number of 30 the organization; 31 (5) by or on behalf of an individual licensed under 32 the Real Estate License Act of 2000 or as an insurance 33 producer under the Illinois Insurance Code who either: 34 (A) is setting or attempting to set a face to SB1830 Enrolled -4- LRB9215936WHcs 1 face appointment for actions relating to that 2 individual's real estate or insurance business; or 3 (B) is encouraging or attempting to encourage 4 the purchase or rental of, or investment in, 5 property, goods, or services, which cannot be 6 completed, and for which payment or authorization of 7 payment is not required, until after a written or 8 electronic agreement is signed by the residential 9 subscriber; or 10 (6) until July 1, 2005, by or on behalf of any 11 entity over which the Federal Communications Commission 12 or the Illinois Commerce Commission has regulatory 13 authority to the extent that, subject to that authority, 14 the entity is required to maintain a license, permit, or 15 certificate to sell or provide telecommunications 16 service, as defined in Section 13-203 of the Public 17 Utilities Act, while the entity is engaged in telephone 18 solicitation for inter-exchange telecommunications 19 service, as defined in Section 13-205 of the Public 20 Utilities Act, or local exchange telecommunications 21 service, as defined in Section 13-204 of the Public 22 Utilities Act or to the extent, subject to the regulatory 23 authority of the Federal Communications Commission, the 24 entity is defined by Title 47 Section 522(5) of the 25 United States Code, or providers of information services 26 as defined by Title 47 Section 153(20) of the United 27 States Code. 28 Section 10. Prohibited calls. Beginning July 1, 2003, 29 no person or entity may make or cause to be made any 30 telephone solicitation calls to any residential subscriber 31 more than 45 days after the residential subscriber's 32 telephone number or numbers first appear on the Registry. SB1830 Enrolled -5- LRB9215936WHcs 1 Section 15. Complaints. The Illinois Commerce Commission 2 shall receive telephone solicitation complaints from 3 residential subscribers to object to such calls. Complaints 4 shall be taken by any means deemed appropriate by the 5 Illinois Commerce Commission. 6 Section 20. Registry; establishment and maintenance. 7 (a) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall establish and 8 provide for the operation of a Restricted Call Registry, 9 which shall contain a list of the telephone numbers of 10 residential subscribers who do not wish to receive telephone 11 solicitation calls. The Illinois Commerce Commission may 12 contract with a private vendor to establish and maintain the 13 Registry if the contract requires the vendor to provide the 14 Registry in a printed hard copy format, in an electronic 15 format, and in any other format prescribed by the Illinois 16 Commerce Commission. Any person or entity conducting 17 telephone solicitation calls as defined by Section 5(e) of 18 this Act within the State of Illinois shall purchase the 19 Restricted Call Registry and updates exclusively from the 20 Illinois Commerce Commission. Failure to do so prior to 21 conducting telephone solicitation calls is a violation 22 subject to the penalties provided for in Section 35 of this 23 Act. 24 (b) No later than January 1, 2003, the Illinois Commerce 25 Commission shall adopt rules consistent with this Act that 26 the Illinois Commerce Commission deems necessary and 27 appropriate to fully implement this Act. The rules shall 28 include, at a minimum, methods by which any person or entity 29 desiring to make telephone solicitation calls may obtain 30 access to the Registry to avoid calling the telephone numbers 31 of residential subscribers included in the Registry. 32 (c) The fee for obtaining the Registry and updates shall 33 be set forth in rules adopted by the Illinois Commerce SB1830 Enrolled -6- LRB9215936WHcs 1 Commission. The fee may not exceed $1,000 annually and may 2 not exceed the costs incurred by the Commission in the 3 preparation, maintenance, production, and distribution of the 4 Registry. All copies requested in a printed hard copy format 5 shall be assessed a per page fee to be determined by rules 6 adopted by the Illinois Commerce Commission. 7 (d) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall update the 8 Registry and make information in the Registry available on a 9 quarterly basis in an electronic format that can be sorted by 10 individual fields and, if deemed appropriate by the Illinois 11 Commerce Commission, in one or more other formats. 12 (e) If the Federal Communications Commission or Federal 13 Trade Commission establishes a single national database of 14 telephone numbers of subscribers who object to receiving 15 telephone solicitations, which restricts both inter-state and 16 intra-state calls and at a minimum covers all telephone 17 solicitations covered by this Act, this State shall 18 discontinue the Registry. 19 (f) Information in the Registry is confidential and 20 shall be afforded reasonable privacy protection except as 21 necessary for compliance with Sections 10 and 25 and this 22 Section or in a proceeding or action under Section 35 or 40. 23 The information is not a public record under the Freedom of 24 Information Act. 25 (g) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall periodically 26 obtain subscription listings of residential subscribers in 27 this State who have arranged to be included in any national 28 do-not-call list and add those names to the Registry. 29 (h) A person or entity that obtains the Registry shall 30 not use the Registry for any purpose other than to comply 31 with this Act. These unlawful purposes include, but are not 32 limited to, causing a subscriber to participate in and be 33 included in the Registry without the subscriber's knowledge 34 or consent, selling or leasing the Registry to a person other SB1830 Enrolled -7- LRB9215936WHcs 1 than a telephone solicitor, selling or leasing by a telephone 2 solicitor of the Registry, and a telephone solicitor, either 3 directly or indirectly, persuading a subscriber with whom it 4 has an established business relationship to place his or her 5 telephone number in the Registry, if the solicitation has the 6 effect of preventing competitors from contacting that 7 solicitor's customers. 8 (i) No person or entity that sells, leases, exchanges, 9 or rents telephone solicitation lists, except for directory 10 assistance and telephone directories sold by telephone 11 companies or their affiliates, shall include in those lists 12 those telephone numbers that appear in the current Registry. 13 Section 25. Enrollment. 14 (a) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall provide 15 notice to residential subscribers of the establishment of the 16 Registry. 17 (b) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall establish any 18 method deemed appropriate for a residential subscriber to 19 notify the Illinois Commerce Commission that the residential 20 subscriber wishes to have its telephone number included in or 21 remain on the Registry. 22 (c) The Commission may, by rule, set an initial fee 23 which shall not exceed $5 per residential subscriber for 24 inclusion on the Restricted Call Registry. The Commission 25 shall review the revenues and expenditures of the Restricted 26 Call Registry on a biennial basis and shall, by rule, reduce 27 the fee accordingly if revenues exceed expenditures. The 28 Commission may adopt rules and procedures governing the 29 acceptance of payment by credit card and may enter into such 30 agreements as necessary to accept payment by credit card. 31 (d) A residential subscriber's telephone number shall be 32 deleted from the Registry upon the residential subscriber's 33 written request. SB1830 Enrolled -8- LRB9215936WHcs 1 (e) Enrollment in the Registry is effective from the 2 start of the quarter following the date of enrollment for a 3 term of 5 years or until the residential subscriber 4 disconnects or changes his or her telephone number, unless 5 the subscriber complies with the notice provision contained 6 in this Section, whichever occurs first. The residential 7 subscriber shall be permitted to extend their enrollment for 8 additional 5 year periods and shall not be subject to any fee 9 for this extension. The residential subscriber is 10 responsible for notifying the Illinois Commerce Commission of 11 any changes in his or her telephone number. The Illinois 12 Commerce Commission shall use its best efforts to notify 13 enrolled residential subscribers before the end of the 5-year 14 enrollment term of the option to extend their enrollment. 15 Residential subscribers who do not indicate their desire to 16 extend their enrollment before the end of the 5-year term 17 shall be given a one quarter grace period before being 18 removed from the Registry. 19 Section 30. Public notification. The Illinois Commerce 20 Commission shall work with local exchange telecommunications 21 companies to disseminate to their customers information about 22 the availability of and instructions for requesting 23 educational literature from the Illinois Commerce Commission. 24 The Illinois Commerce Commission may enter into agreements 25 with those companies for the dissemination of the educational 26 literature. Telecommunications companies shall disseminate 27 the educational literature at least once per year in a 28 message contained in customers' bills or a notice in the 29 information section of all telephone directories distributed 30 to customers and shall include on their website a link to the 31 ICC's web page for the Registry. The Illinois Commerce 32 Commission shall include, on its Internet web site, 33 information to customers regarding their right to be included SB1830 Enrolled -9- LRB9215936WHcs 1 in the Registry and the various methods, including notice to 2 the Illinois Commerce Commission, of being included in the 3 Registry. The Illinois Commerce Commission shall have this 4 literature developed for dissemination to the public no later 5 than March 1, 2003. 6 Section 35. Violation; relief. 7 (a) The Illinois Commerce Commission may initiate 8 administrative proceedings in accordance with rules adopted 9 under this Act relating to a knowing and willful violation of 10 Section 10. 11 (b) If it is determined after a hearing that a person 12 has knowingly and willfully violated one or more provisions 13 of this Section, the Illinois Commerce Commission may assess 14 a fine not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation and not 15 to exceed $2,500 for a second or subsequent violation. Each 16 individual violation of Section 10 of this Act shall be a 17 separate and distinct offense under this Section. In 18 imposing a penalty under this Section, the Commission shall, 19 at a minimum, consider the following factors: 20 (1) whether the offense was knowing or willful; 21 (2) whether the entity committing the offense has a 22 prior history of non-compliance with this Act; 23 (3) the offender's relative ability to pay a 24 penalty; 25 (4) whether the offender has or has not cooperated 26 with the Commission in pursuing the investigation; and 27 (5) such other special, mitigating or aggravating 28 circumstances as the Commission may find to exist. 29 (c) Any proceeding conducted under this Section is 30 subject to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. 31 (d) Nothing in this Section may be construed to restrict 32 any right that any person may have under any other law or at 33 common law. SB1830 Enrolled -10- LRB9215936WHcs 1 (e) No action or proceeding may be brought under this 2 Section: 3 (1) more than one year after the person bringing 4 the action knew or should have known of the occurrence of 5 the alleged violation; or 6 (2) more than one year after the termination of any 7 proceeding or action arising out of the same violation or 8 violations by the State of Illinois, whichever is later. 9 (f) The remedies, duties, prohibitions, and penalties in 10 this Act are not exclusive and are in addition to all other 11 causes of action, remedies, and penalties provided by law. 12 (g) There is created in the State Treasury a special 13 fund to be known as the Restricted Call Registry Fund. All 14 fees and fines collected in the administration and 15 enforcement of this Act shall be deposited into the Fund. 16 Moneys in the Fund shall, subject to appropriation, be used 17 by the Illinois Commerce Commission for implementation, 18 administration, and enforcement of this Act. 19 Section 40. Exemption. 20 (a) A person or entity may not be held liable for 21 violating this Act if: 22 (1) the person or entity has obtained copies of the 23 Registry and each updated Registry from the Illinois 24 Commerce Commission and has established and implemented 25 written policies and procedures related to the 26 requirements of this Act; 27 (2) the person or entity has trained its personnel 28 in the requirements of this Act; 29 (3) the person or entity maintains records 30 demonstrating compliance with subdivisions (1) and (2) of 31 this Section and the requirements of this Act; and 32 (4) any subsequent telephone solicitation is the 33 result of unintentional error. SB1830 Enrolled -11- LRB9215936WHcs 1 (b) A person or entity that has entered into a contract 2 with another person or entity to make telephone solicitations 3 on its behalf is not liable for a violation of this Act by 4 the person or entity making telephone solicitations under the 5 contract if the person or entity on whose behalf the 6 telephone solicitations were made has provided written 7 notification to the person or entity making telephone 8 solicitations under the contract that it is necessary to 9 comply with the provisions of this Act when making telephone 10 solicitations. 11 Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding 12 Section 5.570 as follows: 13 (30 ILCS 105/5.570 new) 14 Sec. 5.570. The Restricted Call Registry Fund. 15 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 16 becoming law.