1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 115th Session, 2003-2004 3 4 H. 3119 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Snow and Littlejohn 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\pt\1117mm03.doc 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 227, 388, 519, 3012, 3040 12 13 Introduced in the House on January 14, 2003 14 Currently residing in the House Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry 15 16 Summary: Do Not Call Registry Act of 2003, Unwanted Telephone Solicitation 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 12/4/2002 House Prefiled 23 12/4/2002 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry 24 1/14/2003 House Introduced and read first time HJ-51 25 1/14/2003 House Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry HJ-52 26 27 28 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 29 30 12/4/2002 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 18 TO TITLE 37 SO AS TO 13 PROVIDE THE “DO NOT CALL REGISTRY” AUTHORIZING 14 THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS TO 15 ESTABLISH A DATABASE OF RESIDENTIAL TELEPHONE 16 SUBSCRIBERS WHO OBJECT TO RECEIVING CERTAIN 17 TELEPHONE SOLICITATIONS, TO PROVIDE FOR THE 18 OPERATION OF THE DATABASE BY THE DEPARTMENT, 19 TO PROVIDE FOR FEES TO BE CHARGED TO 20 RESIDENTIAL TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS WHO APPLY 21 TO BE INCLUDED IN THE DATABASE AND TO PERSONS 22 OR ENTITIES ACCESSING THE DATABASE, TO PROVIDE 23 THAT THE FEES BE USED TO MAINTAIN THE DATABASE, 24 TO PROVIDE CIVIL PENALTIES FOR TELEPHONE 25 SOLICITORS WHO CALL TELEPHONE NUMBERS ON THE 26 REGISTRY MORE THAN ONCE IN A TWELVE-MONTH 27 PERIOD, TO PROVIDE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, AND 28 TO PROVIDE THAT TELEPHONE CALLER 29 IDENTIFICATION SERVICES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR 30 VIOLATIONS OF THIS CHAPTER AND TELEPHONE 31 COMPANIES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE 32 CHAPTER’S ENFORCEMENT OR LIABLE FOR ERRORS OR 33 OMISSIONS IN THE DATABASE; TO AMEND SECTION 34 30-4-40, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO MATTERS EXEMPT 35 FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER THE FREEDOM OF 36 INFORMATION ACT, SO AS TO ADD THE DATABASE 37 ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO THIS CHAPTER; AND TO 38 AMEND SECTION 16-17-445, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 39 THE REGULATION OF UNSOLICITED CONSUMER 40 TELEPHONE CALLS, SO AS TO REFERENCE THE 41 REQUIREMENTS OF THIS CHAPTER. 42

1 [3119] 1 1 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 2 Carolina: 3 4 SECTION 1. Title 37 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: 5 6 “CHAPTER 18 7 8 Do Not Call Registry 9 10 Section 37-18-10. This chapter may be cited as the ‘South 11 Carolina Do Not Call Registry Act of 2003’. 12 13 Section 37-18-20. As used in this chapter: 14 (1) ‘Caller identification service’ means a type of telephone 15 service that permits telephone subscribers to see the telephone 16 number of incoming telephone calls. 17 (2) ‘Department’ means the Department of Consumer Affairs. 18 (3) ‘Residential subscriber’ means a person who subscribes to 19 residential telephone service from a local exchange company or the 20 other persons living or residing with this person. 21 (4) ‘Telephone solicitation’ means a voice communication over 22 a telephone line by a live operator or through the use of ADAD 23 equipment as defined in Section 16-17-446 for the purpose of 24 encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, 25 goods, or services, but does not include communications made: 26 (a) in response to an express request of the residential 27 subscriber; 28 (b) primarily in connection with an existing debt or contract, 29 payment, or performance that has not been completed at the time 30 of the call; 31 (c) by or on behalf of a person or entity with whom a 32 residential subscriber has a previous or current business or 33 personal relationship; or 34 (d) by or on behalf of a charitable organization which has 35 filed a registration statement pursuant to Chapter 56, Title 33. 36 37 Section 37-18-30. (A) The department shall establish and 38 operate a database that is a registry of telephone numbers of 39 residential subscribers who object to receiving telephone 40 solicitations. The department shall have this database in operation 41 no later than July 1, 2004. 42 (B) No later than January 1, 2004, the department shall 43 promulgate regulations that:

1 [3119] 2 1 (1) require each local exchange company to inform its 2 residential subscribers of the opportunity to provide notification to 3 the department that the subscriber objects to receiving telephone 4 solicitations; 5 (2) specify the methods by which each residential subscriber 6 may give notice to the department of the subscriber’s objection to 7 receiving the solicitations or the subscriber’s revocation of the 8 notice; 9 (3) specify the length of time for which a notice of objection 10 is effective and the effect of a change of telephone number on the 11 notice; 12 (4) specify the methods by which the objections and 13 revocations are collected and added to the database; 14 (5) specify the methods by which a person or entity desiring 15 to make telephone solicitations shall obtain access to the database 16 as required to avoid calling the telephone numbers of residential 17 subscribers included in the database; and 18 (6) specify other matters relating to the database that the 19 department considers desirable. 20 (C) If, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. Section 227(c)(3), the Federal 21 Communications Commission establishes a single national 22 database of telephone numbers of subscribers who object to 23 receiving telephone solicitations, the department shall provide the 24 database established by this chapter as this state’s part of the 25 national database. 26 (D) The department shall charge a residential subscriber a fee 27 of five dollars for each telephone number included in the database 28 established pursuant to this chapter. A person or entity desiring to 29 make telephone solicitations shall pay a fee of one hundred dollars 30 to the department each year for access to, or for paper or electronic 31 copies of, the database established pursuant to this chapter. 32 (E) Fees collected by the department must be credited to the 33 state’s general fund for the use of the department in maintaining 34 the database. 35 (F) Information contained in the database established pursuant 36 to this chapter may be used only for the purpose of compliance 37 with this chapter or in a proceeding or action brought pursuant to 38 this chapter. The information in the database is not subject to 39 public inspection or disclosure pursuant to Section 30-4-40. 40 41 Section 37-18-40. A person or entity may not make or cause to 42 be made a telephone solicitation to the telephone line of a 43 residential subscriber in this State who has given notice to the

1 [3119] 3 1 department of the subscriber’s objection to receiving telephone 2 solicitations. 3 4 Section 37-18-50. (A) A person or entity who makes a 5 telephone solicitation to the telephone line of a residential 6 subscriber in this State shall state clearly, at the beginning of the 7 call, the identity of the person or entity initiating the call. 8 (B) A person or entity who makes a telephone solicitation to 9 the telephone line of a residential subscriber in this State may not 10 utilize knowingly a method to block or otherwise circumvent the 11 subscriber’s use of a caller identification service. 12 13 Section 37-18-60. (A) The department may initiate 14 proceedings related to a knowing violation or threatened knowing 15 violation of Section 37-18-40 or 37-18-50. The proceedings 16 include, without limitation, ones to: 17 (1) issue a cease and desist order; 18 (2) issue an order imposing a civil penalty up to a maximum 19 of two thousand dollars for each knowing violation; and 20 (3) seek additional relief in the circuit court. 21 (B) The actions must be brought in the name of the State. The 22 department may issue investigative demands, issue subpoenas, 23 administer oaths, and conduct hearings in the course of 24 investigating violations of Section 37-18-40 or 37-18-50. 25 26 Section 37-18-70. A person who receives more than one 27 telephone solicitation within a twelve-month period by or on 28 behalf of the same person or entity in violation of Section 29 37-18-40 or 37-18-50 may bring: 30 (1) an action to enjoin the violation; 31 (2) an action to recover actual monetary loss from the knowing 32 violation and attorney’s fees or to receive up to two thousand 33 dollars in damages for each knowing violation and attorney’s fees, 34 whichever is greater; or 35 (3) both actions. 36 37 Section 37-18-80. It is a defense in any action or proceeding 38 brought pursuant to this chapter that the defendant has established 39 and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and 40 procedures to prevent effectively telephone solicitations in 41 violation of this chapter. 42

1 [3119] 4 1 Section 37-18-90. An action or proceeding may not be brought 2 pursuant to this chapter more than two years after the: 3 (1) person bringing the action knew or should have known of 4 the occurrence of the alleged violation; or 5 (2) termination of any proceeding or action by the State, 6 whichever is later. 7 8 Section 37-18-100. A court of this State may exercise personal 9 jurisdiction over a nonresident or his personal representative or 10 administrator in an action or proceeding authorized by this chapter. 11 12 Section 37-18-110. The remedies, duties, prohibitions, and 13 penalties of this chapter are not exclusive and are in addition to all 14 other causes of action, remedies, and penalties provided by law. 15 16 Section 37-18-120. (A) A provider of telephone caller 17 identification service is not liable for violations of this chapter 18 committed by other persons or entities. 19 (B) Telephone companies are not responsible for the 20 enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and are not liable for 21 an error or omission in the database made pursuant to this 22 chapter.” 23 24 SECTION 2. Section 30-4-40(a) of the 1976 Code, as last 25 amended by Act 350 of 2002, is further amended by adding an 26 appropriately numbered item at the end to read: 27 28 “( ) The ‘Do Not Call Registry’ database established by 29 Chapter 18 of Title 37.” 30 31 SECTION 3. Section 16-17-445(E) of the 1976 Code, as last 32 amended by Act 408 of 2000, is further amended to read: 33 34 “(E) Each telephone solicitor operating in this State who makes 35 unsolicited consumer telephone calls shall implement in-house 36 systems and procedures whereby in which every effort is made not 37 to call subscribers who ask not to be called again. Each telephone 38 solicitor shall use the Do Not Call Registry established pursuant to 39 Chapter 18 of Title 37. The department has the authority to may 40 monitor compliance with this provision these provisions. A person 41 or his agent who has an interest in a vacation ownership plan or 42 vacation timesharing plan may have the unit telephone number

1 [3119] 5 1 removed from a solicitor’s in-house calling lists by sending written 2 notification to the solicitor.” 3 4 SECTION 4. Upon approval by the Governor, this act takes effect 5 July 1, 2003. 6 ----XX---- 7

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