2011-2012 Bill 1004: Regulation of Unsolicited Consumer Telephone Calls - South Carolina

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 119th Session, 2011-2012 3 4 S. 1004 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senators Cromer and Ford 10 Document Path: l:\s-res\rwc\002anti.kmm.rwc.docx 11 12 Introduced in the Senate on January 10, 2012 13 Introduced in the House on April 17, 2012 14 Last Amended on March 29, 2012 15 Currently residing in the House Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry 16 17 Summary: Regulation of unsolicited consumer telephone calls 18 19 20 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 21 22 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 23 11/28/2011 Senate Prefiled 24 11/28/2011 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary 25 1/10/2012 Senate Introduced and read first time ( Senate Journalpage 9) 26 1/10/2012 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary ( Senate Journalpage 9) 27 1/9/2012 Senate Referred to Subcommittee: Knotts (ch), Massey, Coleman 28 3/28/2012 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary ( Senate Journalpage 13) 29 3/29/2012 Senate Committee Amendment Adopted ( Senate Journalpage 22) 30 3/29/2012 Senate Read second time ( Senate Journalpage 22) 31 3/29/2012 Senate Roll call Ayes37 Nays0 ( Senate Journalpage 22) 32 4/10/2012 Senate Read third time and sent to House ( Senate Journalpage 15) 33 4/17/2012 House Introduced and read first time ( House Journalpage 8) 34 4/17/2012 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry ( House Journalpage 8) 35 36 37 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 38 39 11/28/2011 40 3/28/2012 41 3/29/2012 42 1 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED 2 March 29, 2012 3 4 S. 1004 5 6 Introduced by Senators Cromer and Ford 7 8 S. Printed 3/29/12--S. 9 Read the first time January 10, 2012. 10 11 12 13

[1004-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 1617445 OF THE 1976 CODE, 12 RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF UNSOLICITED 13 CONSUMER TELEPHONE CALLS, TO PROVIDE THAT 14 TELEPHONE SOLICITORS MUST INCLUDE ACCURATE 15 IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ON CALLER 16 IDENTIFICATION DISPLAYS. 17 Amend Title To Conform 18 19 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 20 Carolina: 21 22 SECTION 1. Article 7, Chapter 17, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is 23 amended by adding: 24 25 “Section 16-17-447. (A) For purposes of this section: 26 (1) ‘Call’ means a telephone call made using a public 27 switched telephone network, wireless cellular telephone service, or 28 other Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) service that has the 29 capability of accessing users on the public switched telephone 30 network or a successor network. 31 (2) ‘Caller’ means a person who places a call by a telephone, 32 over a telephone line, or on a computer. 33 (3) ‘Caller identification system’ means a listing of a caller’s 34 name, telephone number, or name and telephone number that is 35 shown to a recipient of a call when the call is received. 36 (4) ‘Enter’ means to input data into a computer or telephone 37 system. 38 (5) ‘False information’ means data that misrepresents the 39 caller’s identity to the recipient of a call or the network itself; 40 however, when a person making an authorized call on behalf of 41 another person inserts the name, telephone number, or name and

[1004] 3 1 telephone number of the person on whose behalf the call is being 2 made, such information must not be deemed false information. 3 (B) It is unlawful for a person to enter or cause to be entered 4 false information into a caller identification system with the intent 5 to deceive, defraud, or mislead the recipient of a call. 6 (C) It is unlawful for a person to place a call knowing that false 7 information was entered into a caller identification system with the 8 intent to deceive, defraud, or mislead the recipient of a call. 9 (D) This section does not apply to: 10 (1) the blocking of caller identification information; 11 (2) a law enforcement agency; 12 (3) an intelligence or security agency of the United States 13 government; or 14 (4) a telecommunications, broadband, or Voice-Over- 15 Internet Protocol (VOIP) service provider that is acting solely as 16 an intermediary for the transmission of telephone service between 17 a caller and a recipient. 18 (E)(1) The Department of Consumer Affairs shall investigate 19 complaints received concerning violations of this section. If the 20 Department of Consumer Affairs has reason to believe that there 21 has been a violation, the Department of Consumer Affairs may 22 request a contested case hearing before the Administrative Law 23 Court to impose a civil penalty not to exceed one hundred dollars 24 for a first violation, two hundred dollars for a second violation, and 25 one thousand dollars for a third or subsequent violation. The 26 Department of Consumer Affairs may also bring a civil action in 27 the Court of Common Pleas seeking other relief, including 28 injunctive relief, as the court considers appropriate against a 29 person who violates this section. The Department of Consumer 30 Affairs may request that the Administrative Law Court or the 31 Court of Common Pleas, as applicable, order a person who violates 32 this section to pay the cost of investigating the violation. Each 33 violation constitutes a separate offense for purposes of this section. 34 (2) In addition, a person who violates this section is guilty of 35 a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, for a first or second offense, 36 must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for 37 not more than thirty days, and for a third or subsequent offense 38 must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five 39 hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days. Each 40 violation constitutes a separate offense for purposes of this section. 41 A law enforcement agency investigating a violation of this section 42 may request that the court order the person who committed the 43 violation to pay the cost of investigating the violation.”

[1004] 4 1 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 2 Governor. 3 XX 4

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