093_HB3407enr

 
HB3407 Enrolled                      LRB093 10501 MBS 10755 b

 1        AN ACT concerning business transactions.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The Restricted Call Registry Act  is  amended
 5    by changing Sections 10, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 as follows:

 6        (815 ILCS 402/10)
 7        Sec.  10.  Prohibited  calls.   Beginning October July 1,
 8    2003, it is a violation of this Act  for  any  no  person  or
 9    entity  to  may  make  or  cause  to  be  made  any telephone
10    solicitation calls to any residential subscriber more than 45
11    days after the person or entity obtains the Registry  or  any
12    update  of the Registry on which the residential subscriber's
13    telephone number or numbers first appear on the Registry.
14    (Source: P.A. 92-795, eff. 8-9-02.)

15        (815 ILCS 402/20)
16        Sec. 20.  Registry; establishment and maintenance.
17        (a)  The Illinois Commerce Commission shall establish and
18    provide for the operation  of  a  Restricted  Call  Registry,
19    which  shall  contain  a  list  of  the  telephone numbers of
20    residential subscribers who do not wish to receive  telephone
21    solicitation   calls.  The  national  "do-not-call"  registry
22    established and maintained by the Federal  Trade  Commission,
23    pursuant  to  16  C.F.R. 310.4 (b)(1)(iii)(B), shall serve as
24    the Registry provided by this  Act.   The  Illinois  Commerce
25    Commission  may  contract  with a private vendor to establish
26    and maintain the Registry if the contract requires the vendor
27    to provide
28        (b)  Residential subscribers may  cause  their  telephone
29    number or numbers to appear on the Registry in a printed hard
30    copy format, in an electronic format, and in any manner other
 
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 1    format prescribed by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
 2        (c)  Any    person   or   entity   conducting   telephone
 3    solicitation calls as defined by Section  5(e)  of  this  Act
 4    within  the  State  of Illinois shall purchase the Restricted
 5    Call Registry and updates no less  frequently  than  every  3
 6    months  exclusively  from the Federal Trade Illinois Commerce
 7    Commission. Failure to do so prior  to  conducting  telephone
 8    solicitation  calls  is  a violation subject to the penalties
 9    provided for in Section 35 of this Act.
10        (d)(b)  No later  than  January  1,  2003,  The  Illinois
11    Commerce  Commission  may  shall  adopt rules consistent with
12    this  Act  that  the  Illinois  Commerce   Commission   deems
13    necessary  and  appropriate  to fully implement this Act. The
14    rules shall include, at  a  minimum,  methods  by  which  any
15    person  or  entity  desiring  to  make telephone solicitation
16    calls may obtain access to the Registry to avoid calling  the
17    telephone  numbers of residential subscribers included in the
18    Registry.
19        (c)  The fee for obtaining the Registry and updates shall
20    be set forth  in  rules  adopted  by  the  Illinois  Commerce
21    Commission.  The  fee  may not exceed $1,000 annually and may
22    not exceed the  costs  incurred  by  the  Commission  in  the
23    preparation, maintenance, production, and distribution of the
24    Registry.  All copies requested in a printed hard copy format
25    shall be assessed a per page fee to be  determined  by  rules
26    adopted by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
27        (d)  The  Illinois  Commerce  Commission shall update the
28    Registry and make information in the Registry available on  a
29    quarterly basis in an electronic format that can be sorted by
30    individual  fields and, if deemed appropriate by the Illinois
31    Commerce Commission, in one or more other formats.
32        (e)  If the Federal Communications Commission or  Federal
33    Trade  Commission  establishes  a single national database of
34    telephone numbers of  subscribers  who  object  to  receiving
 
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 1    telephone solicitations, which restricts both inter-state and
 2    intra-state  calls  and  at  a  minimum  covers all telephone
 3    solicitations  covered  by  this  Act,   this   State   shall
 4    discontinue the Registry.
 5        (e)(f)  Information pertaining to residential subscribers
 6    Information  in  the  Registry  is  confidential and shall be
 7    afforded reasonable privacy protection  except  as  necessary
 8    for compliance with Sections 10 and 25 and this Section or in
 9    a   proceeding   or  action  under  Section  35  or  40.  The
10    information is not a  public  record  under  the  Freedom  of
11    Information Act.
12        (g)  The  Illinois Commerce Commission shall periodically
13    obtain subscription listings of  residential  subscribers  in
14    this  State  who have arranged to be included in any national
15    do-not-call list and add those names to the Registry.
16        (f)(h)  A person or  entity  that  obtains  the  Registry
17    shall  not  use  the  Registry  for any purpose other than to
18    comply with this Act. These unlawful  purposes  include,  but
19    are  not  limited  to, causing a subscriber to participate in
20    and be included in  the  Registry  without  the  subscriber's
21    knowledge  or  consent,  selling or leasing the Registry to a
22    person other than a telephone solicitor, selling  or  leasing
23    by  a  telephone  solicitor  of the Registry, and a telephone
24    solicitor,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  persuading   a
25    subscriber   with   whom   it  has  an  established  business
26    relationship to place his or  her  telephone  number  in  the
27    Registry,  if  the  solicitation has the effect of preventing
28    competitors from contacting that solicitor's customers.
29        (g)(i)  No  person  or   entity   that   sells,   leases,
30    exchanges,  or rents telephone solicitation lists, except for
31    directory  assistance  and  telephone  directories  sold   by
32    telephone  companies  or  their  affiliates, shall include in
33    those lists  those  telephone  numbers  that  appear  in  the
34    current Registry.
 
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 1    (Source: P.A. 92-795, eff. 8-9-02.)

 2        (815 ILCS 402/25)
 3        Sec.    25.  Notice   of   establishment   of   Registry.
 4    Enrollment.   (a)  The  Illinois  Commerce  Commission  shall
 5    provide   notice   to   residential   subscribers   of    the
 6    establishment of the Registry.
 7        (b)  The Illinois Commerce Commission shall establish any
 8    method  deemed  appropriate  for  a residential subscriber to
 9    notify the Illinois Commerce Commission that the  residential
10    subscriber wishes to have its telephone number included in or
11    remain on the Registry.
12        (c)  The  Commission  may,  by  rule,  set an initial fee
13    which shall not exceed  $5  per  residential  subscriber  for
14    inclusion  on  the  Restricted Call Registry.  The Commission
15    shall review the revenues and expenditures of the  Restricted
16    Call  Registry on a biennial basis and shall, by rule, reduce
17    the fee accordingly  if  revenues  exceed  expenditures.  The
18    Commission  may  adopt  rules  and  procedures  governing the
19    acceptance of payment by credit card and may enter into  such
20    agreements as necessary to accept payment by credit card.
21        (d)  A residential subscriber's telephone number shall be
22    deleted  from  the Registry upon the residential subscriber's
23    written request.
24        (e)  Enrollment in the Registry  is  effective  from  the
25    start  of  the quarter following the date of enrollment for a
26    term  of  5  years  or  until  the   residential   subscriber
27    disconnects  or  changes  his or her telephone number, unless
28    the subscriber complies with the notice  provision  contained
29    in  this  Section,  whichever  occurs first.  The residential
30    subscriber shall be permitted to extend their enrollment  for
31    additional 5 year periods and shall not be subject to any fee
32    for   this   extension.    The   residential   subscriber  is
33    responsible for notifying the Illinois Commerce Commission of
 
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 1    any changes in his or  her  telephone  number.  The  Illinois
 2    Commerce  Commission  shall  use  its  best efforts to notify
 3    enrolled residential subscribers before the end of the 5-year
 4    enrollment term of the option  to  extend  their  enrollment.
 5    Residential  subscribers  who do not indicate their desire to
 6    extend their enrollment before the end  of  the  5-year  term
 7    shall  be  given  a  one  quarter  grace  period before being
 8    removed from the Registry.
 9    (Source: P.A. 92-795, eff. 8-9-02.)

10        (815 ILCS 402/30)
11        Sec.  30.  Public  notification.  The  Illinois  Commerce
12    Commission shall work with local exchange  telecommunications
13    companies   to   notify   disseminate   to   their  customers
14    information about the availability of  and  instructions  for
15    requesting   information   educational  literature  from  the
16    Illinois   Commerce   Commission.   The   Illinois   Commerce
17    Commission may enter into agreements with those companies for
18    the  dissemination  of  the  educational  literature.   Local
19    exchange  telecommunications  companies  shall  provide  this
20    notice  disseminate  the educational literature at least once
21    per year in a message contained  in  customers'  bills  or  a
22    notice   in   the   information   section  of  all  telephone
23    directories distributed to customers  and  shall  include  on
24    their  website a link to the ICC's web page for the Registry.
25    The  Illinois  Commerce  Commission  shall  include,  on  its
26    Internet web site, information to customers  regarding  their
27    right to be included in the Registry and the various methods,
28    including  notice  to  the  Illinois  Commerce Commission, of
29    being  included  in  the  Registry.  The  Illinois   Commerce
30    Commission  shall  develop  language  to  be  used  by  local
31    exchange   telecommunications   carriers   and   shall   make
32    information  available  on  its  web  site  shall  have  this
33    literature developed for dissemination to the public no later
 
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 1    than July March 1, 2003.
 2    (Source: P.A. 92-795, eff. 8-9-02.)

 3        (815 ILCS 402/35)
 4        Sec. 35.  Violation; relief.
 5        (a)  The   Illinois   Commerce  Commission  may  initiate
 6    administrative proceedings in accordance with  rules  adopted
 7    under this Act relating to a knowing and willful violation of
 8    Section 10.
 9        (b)  If  it  is  determined after a hearing that a person
10    has knowingly and willfully violated one or  more  provisions
11    of  this Section, the Illinois Commerce Commission may assess
12    a fine not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation  and  not
13    to  exceed  $2,500 for a second or subsequent violation. Each
14    individual violation of Section 10 of this  Act  shall  be  a
15    separate   and  distinct  offense  under  this  Section.   In
16    imposing a penalty under this Section, the Commission  shall,
17    at a minimum, consider the following factors:
18             (1)  whether the offense was knowing or willful;
19             (2)  whether the entity committing the offense has a
20        prior history of non-compliance with this Act;
21             (3)  the   offender's  relative  ability  to  pay  a
22        penalty;
23             (4)  whether the offender has or has not  cooperated
24        with the Commission in pursuing the investigation; and
25             (5)  such  other  special, mitigating or aggravating
26        circumstances as the Commission may find to exist.
27        (c)  Any  proceeding  conducted  under  this  Section  is
28    subject to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.
29        (d)  Nothing in this Section may be construed to restrict
30    any right that any person may have under any other law or  at
31    common law.
32        (e)  No  action  or  proceeding may be brought under this
33    Section:
 
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 1             (1)  more than one year after  the  person  bringing
 2        the action knew or should have known of the occurrence of
 3        the alleged violation; or
 4             (2)  more than one year after the termination of any
 5        proceeding or action arising out of the same violation or
 6        violations by the State of Illinois, whichever is later.
 7        (f)  The remedies, duties, prohibitions, and penalties in
 8    this  Act  are not exclusive and are in addition to all other
 9    causes of action, remedies, and penalties provided by law.
10        (g)  There is created in the  State  Treasury  a  special
11    fund  to  be  known as the Restricted Call Registry Fund. All
12    fees  and  fines  collected   in   the   administration   and
13    enforcement  of  this  Act  shall be deposited into the Fund.
14    Moneys in the Fund shall, subject to appropriation,  be  used
15    by  the  Illinois  Commerce  Commission  for  implementation,
16    administration, and enforcement of this Act.
17    (Source: P.A. 92-795, eff. 8-9-02.)

18        (815 ILCS 402/40)
19        Sec. 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 updates in compliance  with  this  Act  each
24        updated  Registry  from  the Illinois Commerce Commission
25        and has established and implemented written policies  and
26        procedures related to the 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.
 
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 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    (Source: P.A. 92-795, eff. 8-9-02.)

12        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
13    becoming law.