HOUSE BILL No. 4694 April 24, 1997, Introduced by Reps. DeHart, Kelly, Mans, Hale, Hanley, McBryde, Goschka, Scott, Parks and Brater and referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection. A bill to amend 1913 PA 206, entitled "An act to declare telephone lines and telephone companies within this state to be common carriers; to regulate the telephone busi- ness; to confer certain powers, duties, and responsibilities on the public service commission; to provide for the consolidation of telephone lines and telephone companies; to prohibit certain uses of telephone lines and telephone equipment; to regulate per- sons using telephone lines and telephone equipment; to prescribe a penalty for the violation of this act; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts on specific dates," by amending section 25 (MCL 484.125), as added by 1980 PA 47. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 25. (1) As used in this section: 2 (a) "Caller" means an individual, corporation, firm, part- 3 nership, association, or legal or commercial entity who attempts 4 to contact or who contacts a subscriber in this state via tele- 5 phone or by using a telephone line. 6 (b) "Subscriber" means an individual who has subscribed to 7 residential telephone service from a telephone company regulated 03094'97 DMS 2 1 by this state, and all other persons with the same legal 2 residence as the subscribing individual. 3 (2) A caller shall not use a telephone line to contact a 4 subscriber at the subscriber's residence todeliverDO EITHER 5 OF THE FOLLOWING: 6 (A) DELIVER a recorded message for the purpose of 7deliveringPRESENTING commercial advertising to the subscriber, 8 unless either of the following occurs: 9 (i)(a)The subscriber has knowingly and voluntarily 10 requested, consented, permitted, or authorized the contact from 11 the caller. 12 (ii)(b)The subscriber has knowingly and voluntarily pro- 13 vided his or her telephone number to the caller. 14 (B) DELIVER A RECORDED COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT UNLESS THE 15 ADVERTISEMENT ENDS OR OTHERWISE FREES THE SUBSCRIBER'S TELEPHONE 16 LINE FOR INCOMING OR OUTGOING CALLS IMMEDIATELY UPON THE 17 SUBSCRIBER'S TERMINATION OF THE CONTACT. 18 (3) The authorization to contact a subscriber granted under 19 subsection(2)(a)(2)(A)(i) shall not be transferred, assigned, 20 or sold without the written permission of the subscriber. 21 (4) The use of automated dialing, push button, or tone acti- 22 vated devices which operate sequentially or are otherwise unable 23 to avoid contacting subscribers who have not authorized the con- 24 tact as provided in subsection (2) is prima facie evidence of an 25 intention to violate this act. 03094'97 3 1 (5) A subscriber contacted by a caller in violation of this 2 section may bring an action to recover damages of not more than 3 $250.00, together with reasonable attorneys' fees. 4 (6) An employee or officer of a telephone company shall 5 report a person whom the employee or officer in good faith 6 believes may be violating or has violated this act. Alleged vio- 7 lations of this act shall be reported to the county prosecutor 8 for the county in which the violation occurred. 9 (7) This sectionshallDOES not prohibit the use of auto- 10 matic dialing equipment for the purpose of advising customers 11 concerning merchandise or goods or services previously ordered. 12 (8) A caller who violated this section is guilty of a misde- 13 meanor, punishable by a fine of $1,000.00,or imprisonment for 14 10 days, or both. 03094'97 Final page. DMS