2003-2004 Bill 249: Advertising; Intentionally Making Untrue Or Misleading Statements;

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 115th Session, 2003-2004 3 4 S. 249 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senator Ford 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\pt\1103mm03.doc 11 12 Introduced in the Senate on January 22, 2003 13 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry 14 15 Summary: Advertising; intentionally making untrue or misleading statements; probation includes radio, tv 16 and internet broadcasts 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 1/22/2003 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-9 23 1/22/2003 Senate Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry SJ-9 24 25 26 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 27 28 1/22/2003 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 39-1-20, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH 12 CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO MAKING 13 INTENTIONALLY UNTRUE STATEMENTS IN 14 ADVERTISING, SO AS TO PROHIBIT ADVERTISING THAT 15 IS KNOWN OR SHOULD BE KNOWN TO BE UNTRUE OR 16 MISLEADING IN ANY FORM, INCLUDING TELEVISION, 17 RADIO, AND INTERNET BROADCASTS; AND TO AMEND 18 SECTION 39-5-40, RELATING TO APPLICABILITY OF THE 19 UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES ACT, SO AS TO MAKE THE 20 PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO A PERSON WHO KNEW OR 21 SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THE ADVERTISING WAS 22 UNTRUE OR MISLEADING. 23 24 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 25 Carolina: 26 27 SECTION 1. Section 39-1-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to 28 read: 29 30 “Section 39-1-20. Any A person who knowingly with intent to 31 sell or in any wise otherwise dispose of merchandise, securities, 32 service services, or anything offered by such person him, directly 33 or indirectly, to the public for sale or distribution or with intent to 34 increase the consumption thereof of it, to induce the public in any 35 manner to enter into any an obligation relating thereto to it, or to 36 acquire title thereto to it or an interest therein in it makes, 37 publishes, disseminates, circulates, broadcasts, or places before the 38 public or causes, directly or indirectly, to be made, published, 39 disseminated, circulated, broadcast, or placed before the public, in 40 a newspaper, or other publication or in the form of a book, notice, 41 handbill, poster, bill, circular, pamphlet, letter, or in any a 42 broadcast over the Internet, television, or radio, or in other another

1 [249] 1 1 way an advertisement of any sort regarding merchandise, 2 securities, service services, or anything so offered to the public 3 which contains containing any assertion, representation or 4 statement of fact which that is known or should be known to be 5 intentionally untrue shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon 6 conviction shall must be punished by a fine of not less than one 7 hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or by 8 imprisonment at hard labor for not less than thirty days nor more 9 than six months, in the discretion of the court.” 10 11 SECTION 2. Section 39-5-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to 12 read: 13 14 “Section 39-5-40. (A) Nothing in this This article shall does 15 not apply to: 16 (a)(1) Actions actions or transactions permitted under by 17 laws administered by any regulatory body or officer acting under 18 pursuant to statutory authority of this State or the United States or 19 actions or transactions permitted by any other South Carolina State 20 law. laws of this state; 21 (b)(2) Acts acts done by the publisher, owner, agent, or 22 employee of a newspaper, periodical, or radio or television station, 23 or Internet provider in the publication, or dissemination, or 24 broadcast of an advertisement, when if the owner, agent, or 25 employee did not have knowledge know and should not have 26 known of the false, misleading, or deceptive character of the 27 advertisement and did not have a direct financial interest in the 28 sale or distribution of the advertised product or service.; 29 (c)(3) This article does not supersede or apply to unfair trade 30 practices covered and regulated under Title 38, Chapter 55, 31 Sections 38-55-10 through 38-55-410. pursuant to Chapter 55 of 32 Title 38, Conduct of Insurance Business; or 33 (d)(4) Any a challenged practices practice that are is subject 34 to, and comply complies with, statutes administered by the Federal 35 Trade Commission and the rules, regulations, and decisions 36 interpreting such those statutes. 37 (B) For the purpose of this section, the burden of proving 38 exemption from the provisions of this article shall be is upon the 39 person claiming the exemption.” 40 41 SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the 42 Governor. 43 ----XX----

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