State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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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.

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