Chapter 441
AN ACT
SB 117
Relating to telephone solicitations; creating new provisions; amending
ORS 646.561, 646.567, 646.569, 646.572 and 646.574; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. Section
2 of this 2007 Act is added to and made a part of ORS 646.567 to 646.578.
SECTION 2. (1)
The Legislative Assembly finds that:
(a) Fraud committed by
means of unwanted telephone solicitations causes economic harm to Oregonians
and constitutes an invasion of privacy and a threat to the welfare of the
people of this state.
(b) Unwanted telephone
solicitations cause Oregonians harm because:
(A) Telephone
solicitations have become a primary tool for the marketing of real estate,
goods and services to parties. Telephone solicitors have engaged in the
practice of cold calling, which is the initiation of calls to parties with whom
the telephone solicitors have no prior business relationship, to market scams,
fraudulent schemes and worthless goods and services to unsuspecting parties who
often lose thousands of dollars as a result of the solicitations.
(B) Telephone solicitors
often make calls based on lists targeting the elderly or other vulnerable
populations who are unable to assess the risks associated with engaging in
sales transactions over the telephone.
(C) Technologies
designed to assist parties in avoiding unwanted telephone solicitations are not
effective and place an additional financial burden on parties, effectively
shifting the cost of unwanted telephone solicitations to parties.
These technologies include:
(i) Caller
identification systems, for which parties bear the cost of the caller
identification service and any related hardware, and for which technology
exists that allows telephone solicitors to block caller identification data;
(ii) Privacy manager
services that, for a fee, intercept calls; and
(iii) Unlisted telephone
numbers, for which parties pay an additional fee.
(D) Unwanted telephone
solicitations tie up telephone lines and prevent legitimate telephone calls
from being received or placed by parties. Predictive dialers utilized by
telephone solicitors that automatically dial parties’ telephone numbers
frequently result in abandoned telephone solicitations and silence when the
party answers the phone. These solicitations constitute an intrusion on the
property of parties and an invasion of privacy.
(E) The growing practice
of preacquired account telephone solicitation, in which a telephone solicitor
acquires the party’s billing information prior to initiating a telephone
solicitation, has increasingly resulted in unauthorized charges to parties’
financial accounts.
(c) Existing state and
federal laws are inadequate to prevent the harm to the public welfare that
results from telephone solicitations.
(d) Allowing parties to
choose not to receive unwanted telephone solicitations by placing their
telephone numbers on a “do not call” list provides a means by which parties can
protect themselves from fraud related to telephone solicitations and from the
resulting economic harm and invasion of privacy.
(2) The purpose of ORS
646.567 to 646.578 is to prevent the harmful effects set forth in subsection
(1)(b) of this section that result from telephone solicitations without inhibiting
legitimate telephone solicitations to parties who choose to receive them.
Prohibiting telephone solicitations to those Oregonians whose telephone numbers
appear on the list described in ORS 646.574 enables Oregonians to choose
whether to receive telephone solicitations.
SECTION 3.
ORS 646.561 is amended to read:
646.561. As used in ORS
646.561 to 646.565, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Charitable
organization” means an organization organized for charitable purposes as
defined in ORS 128.801.
(2) “Party” means a [residential] telephone customer of a
telecommunications company.
(3) “Telephone
solicitation” means the solicitation by telephone by any person of a party [at the residence of the party] for the
purpose of encouraging the party to purchase [property] real estate, goods or services, or make a
donation. “Telephone solicitation” does not include:
(a) Calls made by a
charitable organization, a public agency or volunteers on behalf of the
organization or agency to members of the organization or agency or to persons
who have made a donation or expressed an interest in making a donation to
the organization or agency;
(b) Calls limited to
polling or soliciting the expression of ideas, opinions or votes; or
(c) Business to business
contacts.
SECTION 4.
ORS 646.567 is amended to read:
646.567. As used in ORS
646.567 to 646.578, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Charitable
organization” means an organization organized for charitable purposes as
defined in ORS 128.801.
(2) “Information about a
party” means information specific to a party, including but not limited to the
name and [residence] address of the
party and the method by which the party paid the fee required by ORS 646.574.
(3) “Party” means a [residential] telephone customer of a
telecommunications company.
(4) “Qualified trade
association” means an organization with at least the following characteristics:
(a) Written bylaws or
governing documents including a code of conduct for its members; and
(b) Criteria and
procedures for expelling or suspending members who violate the association’s
bylaws or governing documents.
(5) “Telephone
solicitation” means the solicitation by telephone by any person of a party [at the residence of the party] for the
purpose of encouraging the party to purchase [property] real estate, goods or services, or make a
donation. “Telephone solicitation” does not include:
(a) Calls made in
response to a request or inquiry by the called party;
(b) Calls made by a
charitable organization, a public agency or volunteers on behalf of the
organization or agency to members of the organization or agency or to persons
who have donated or expressed an interest in donating real estate,
goods[,] or services [or real estate] to the organization
or agency;
(c) Calls limited to
polling or soliciting the expression of ideas, opinions or votes; or
(d) Business to business
contacts.
SECTION 5.
ORS 646.569 is amended to read:
646.569. (1) A person
may not engage in the telephone solicitation of a party at a telephone number
included on the then current list:
(a) Published by the administrator of the
telephone solicitation program established under ORS 646.572 and 646.574; or
(b) Maintained as part
of the federal registry designated under ORS 646.572.
(2) For purposes of this
section:
(a) “Predecessor of [a] the business enterprise” means
a financial institution as defined in 15 U.S.C. 6827 that has:
(A) Merged with or been
acquired by the business enterprise for which the person is calling; or
(B) Sold or assigned an
account of a party who has previously purchased from the business enterprise,
to the business enterprise for which the person is calling.
(b) “Telephone
solicitation” does not include a person soliciting business from prospective
purchasers who have previously purchased from:
(A) The person making
the solicitation;
(B) The business
enterprise for which the person is calling; or
(C) A predecessor of the
business enterprise for which the person is calling.
SECTION 6.
ORS 646.572 is amended to read:
646.572. (1) The
Attorney General shall either:
(a) Advertise for bids and enter into a contract
with a person to act as the administrator of the telephone solicitation program
described in ORS 646.574[.]; or
(b) Designate a federal “do
not call” registry, including but not limited to the registry maintained by the
Federal Trade Commission under 16 C.F.R. 310, in lieu of an Oregon do not call
registry.
(2) The Attorney General may include in a
contract [may include] with the
administrator any provision that the Attorney General determines is in the
public interest.
(3) If a party
requests, the Attorney General shall instruct the party on how to register the
party’s telephone number on the federal “do not call” registry designated under
subsection (1)(b) of this section.
SECTION 7.
ORS 646.574 is amended to read:
646.574. (1) If the
Attorney General enters into a contract pursuant to ORS 646.572 (1)(a), the
administrator [referred to in ORS 646.572]
of the telephone solicitation program shall create, maintain and
distribute a database containing a list of telephone numbers of parties who do
not wish to receive any telephone solicitation at the listed numbers. Beginning
on the date specified in the contract between the administrator and the
Attorney General and at least once each quarter thereafter, the administrator
shall update the list by:
(a) Adding the numbers
of parties who have filed notice and paid the fee as required in this section;
and
(b) Removing the numbers
of those parties who have requested that their numbers be removed or whose
listing has expired without renewal.
(2) A party may file
notice together with a fee of $10 per listed number, or such lesser amount as
may be specified in the contract, with the administrator indicating the party’s
desire to place telephone numbers on the list described in subsection (1) of
this section. The notice shall be filed in the form and manner specified in the
contract between the administrator and the Attorney General. The notice is
effective for one year from the date the party files the notice. The party may
renew the notice for additional periods of one year by filing an additional
notice and paying an additional fee by the anniversary of the original filing
date of the notice.
(3) Information about a
party is confidential. The Attorney General may not disclose information about
a party.
(4) The administrator [shall] may not furnish the list
or disclose any information about a party to any person, except as follows:
(a) Upon request of a
person engaging or intending to engage in telephone solicitations and after
payment of the fees in the amounts specified in the contract between the
administrator and the Attorney General, the administrator shall furnish to the
person:
(A) The most recent copy
of the list described in subsection (1) of this section.
(B) The names of the
parties whose telephone numbers are on the list.
(b) Upon request of a
qualified trade association and after payment of the fees in the amounts
specified in the contract between the administrator and the Attorney General,
the administrator shall furnish to the qualified trade association:
(A) The most recent copy
of the list described in subsection (1) of this section.
(B) The names of the
parties whose telephone numbers are on the list.
(c) A qualified trade
association that receives a list or the names of the parties whose telephone
numbers are on the list under this subsection may make the list or the names
available to its members on any terms the association and its members may
impose.
(d) Upon request of the
Attorney General for the purpose of enforcing ORS 646.569, the administrator
shall furnish the Attorney General with all requested information about a party
or any person who the Attorney General believes has engaged in a solicitation
prohibited by ORS 646.569. The administrator [shall] may not charge [any]
a fee for furnishing the information to the Attorney General.
(e) Upon request of any
party who has filed a notice and paid the fee as provided in subsection (2) of
this section, the administrator shall furnish the party with all requested
information about the party or any person who the party believes has engaged in
a solicitation prohibited by ORS 646.569. The administrator [shall] may not charge [any] a fee for furnishing the
information to the party.
(f) The administrator
shall comply with any lawful subpoena or court order directing disclosure of
the list and of any other information.
(g) The administrator
shall provide all information that may be requested by any successor
administrator who may be selected by the Attorney General. The administrator [shall] may not charge [any] a fee for furnishing the
information to the successor administrator.
(5) The administrator
shall promptly forward any complaints concerning alleged violations of ORS
646.569 to the Attorney General.
(6) Fees paid to the
administrator under this section shall be considered income to the
administrator in the manner specified in the contract between the administrator
and the Attorney General.
(7) When furnishing the
list or names under subsection (4) of this section, the administrator shall
make the information available in printed and electronic form.
SECTION 8. The
amendments to ORS 646.561, 646.567 and 646.569 by sections 3 to 5 of this 2007
Act apply to telephone solicitations made on or after the effective date of
this 2007 Act.
SECTION 9. This
2007 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2007 Act takes
effect on its passage.
Approved by the Governor June 18, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 19, 2007
Effective date June 18, 2007
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