SF 3246

3rd Engrossment - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to trade practices; providing certain 
  1.3             enforcement authority to the public utilities 
  1.4             commission; limiting unsolicited telephone calls to 
  1.5             certain individuals; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.6             section 237.081, subdivision 4; proposing coding for 
  1.7             new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 325E. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 237.081, 
  1.10  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 4.  [ESTABLISHMENT OF RATE AND PRICE.] (a) Whenever 
  1.12  the commission finds, after a proceeding under subdivision 2, 
  1.13  that (1) a service that can be reasonably demanded cannot be 
  1.14  obtained, (2) that any rate, toll, tariff, charge, or schedule, 
  1.15  or any regulation, measurement, practice, act, or omission 
  1.16  affecting or relating to the production, transmission, delivery, 
  1.17  or furnishing of telephone service or any service in connection 
  1.18  with telephone service, is in any respect unreasonable, 
  1.19  insufficient, or unjustly discriminatory, or (3) that any 
  1.20  service is inadequate, the commission shall make an order 
  1.21  respecting the tariff, regulation, act, omission, practice, or 
  1.22  service that is just and reasonable and, if applicable, shall 
  1.23  establish just and reasonable rates and prices. 
  1.24     (b) Included within the authority existing under paragraph 
  1.25  (a) for the commission to issue any order remedying inadequate 
  1.26  or discriminatory service or practice is the authority to impose 
  2.1   self-executing or automatic remedies and penalties. 
  2.2      Sec. 2.  [325E.311] [DEFINITIONS.] 
  2.3      Subdivision 1.  [SCOPE.] For the purposes of sections 
  2.4   325E.311 to 325E.316, the following terms have the meanings 
  2.5   given them. 
  2.6      Subd. 2.  [CALLER.] "Caller" means a person, corporation, 
  2.7   firm, partnership, association, or legal or commercial entity 
  2.8   that attempts to contact, or that contacts, a residential 
  2.9   subscriber in this state by using a telephone or a telephone 
  2.10  line. 
  2.11     Subd. 3.  [CALLER IDENTIFICATION SERVICE.] "Caller 
  2.12  identification service" means a telephone service that permits 
  2.13  telephone subscribers to see the telephone number of incoming 
  2.14  telephone calls. 
  2.15     Subd. 4.  [COMMISSIONER.] "Commissioner" means the 
  2.16  commissioner of commerce. 
  2.17     Subd. 5. [RESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBER.] "Residential subscriber" 
  2.18  means a person who has subscribed to residential telephone 
  2.19  services from a telephone company or the other persons living or 
  2.20  residing with the subscribing person. 
  2.21     Subd. 6.  [TELEPHONE SOLICITATION.] "Telephone solicitation"
  2.22  means any voice communication over a telephone line for the 
  2.23  purpose of establishing a business relationship with, or 
  2.24  encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, 
  2.25  property, goods, or services, whether the communication is made 
  2.26  by a live operator, through the use of an automatic 
  2.27  dialing-announcing device as defined in section 325E.26, 
  2.28  subdivision 2, or by other means.  Telephone solicitation does 
  2.29  not include communications: 
  2.30     (1) to any residential subscriber with that subscriber's 
  2.31  prior express invitation or permission; 
  2.32     (2) by or on behalf of any person or entity with whom a 
  2.33  residential subscriber has a prior or current business or 
  2.34  personal relationship; 
  2.35     (3) resulting from a referral by a personal acquaintance of 
  2.36  the residential subscriber; 
  3.1      (4) by or on behalf of an organization that is exempt from 
  3.2   taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
  3.3   1986, as amended; or 
  3.4      (5) by a person soliciting without the intent to complete, 
  3.5   and who does not in fact complete, the sales presentation during 
  3.6   the call, but who will complete the sales presentation at a 
  3.7   later face-to-face meeting between the solicitor who makes the 
  3.8   call and the prospective purchaser. 
  3.9      Sec. 3.  [325E.312] [TELEPHONE SOLICITATIONS.] 
  3.10     Subdivision 1.  [PERSONS INCLUDED IN NO-CALL LIST.] No 
  3.11  caller shall make or cause to be made any telephone solicitation 
  3.12  to the telephone line of any residential subscriber in this 
  3.13  state who is on the current no-call list under section 325E.313, 
  3.14  of that residential subscriber's objection to receiving 
  3.15  telephone solicitations. 
  3.16     Subd. 2.  [IDENTIFICATION OF CALLER.] Any caller who makes 
  3.17  a telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber in this 
  3.18  state shall state the caller's identity clearly at the beginning 
  3.19  of the call and, if requested, the caller's telephone number. 
  3.20     Subd. 3.  [INTERFERENCE WITH CALLER IDENTIFICATION.] No 
  3.21  caller who makes a telephone solicitation to a residential 
  3.22  subscriber in this state shall knowingly use any method to block 
  3.23  or otherwise deliberately circumvent the subscriber's use of a 
  3.24  caller identification service. 
  3.25     Sec. 4.  [325E.313] [NO-CALL LIST.] 
  3.26     Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT OF LIST.] The commissioner 
  3.27  shall establish and maintain a list of telephone numbers of 
  3.28  residential subscribers who object to receiving telephone 
  3.29  solicitations.  The commissioner may fulfill the requirements of 
  3.30  this subdivision by contracting with an agent for the 
  3.31  establishment and maintenance of the list.  The list must be 
  3.32  established by January 1, 2003. 
  3.33     Subd. 2.  [OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF LIST.] (a) Each 
  3.34  local exchange company must inform its residential subscribers 
  3.35  of the opportunity to provide notification to the commissioner 
  3.36  or the contractor that the subscriber objects to receiving 
  4.1   telephone solicitations.  The notification must be made in the 
  4.2   manner prescribed by the commissioner. 
  4.3      (b) Any residential subscriber may contact the commissioner 
  4.4   or the commissioner's agent and give notice, in the manner 
  4.5   prescribed by the commissioner, that the subscriber objects to 
  4.6   receiving telephone solicitations.  The commissioner shall add 
  4.7   the telephone number of any subscriber who gives notice of 
  4.8   objection to the list maintained pursuant to subdivision 1 
  4.9   within 90 days of the date the notice is received. 
  4.10     (c) Any notice given by a subscriber under this subdivision 
  4.11  shall be effective for two years unless revoked by the 
  4.12  subscriber.  Any subsequent notices given by the same subscriber 
  4.13  related to a different telephone number are separate from the 
  4.14  original notice. 
  4.15     (d) The commissioner shall allow consumers to give notice 
  4.16  under this subdivision by mail or electronically. 
  4.17     (e) The commissioner shall establish the procedures by 
  4.18  which a person wishing to make telephone solicitations may 
  4.19  obtain access to the list.  Those procedures shall, to the 
  4.20  extent practicable, allow for access to paper or electronic 
  4.21  copies of the list. 
  4.22     Subd. 3.  [USE OF FEDERAL LIST.] If, pursuant to United 
  4.23  States Code, title 15, section 6102(a), the Federal Trade 
  4.24  Commission establishes a single national list of telephone 
  4.25  numbers of subscribers who object to receiving telephone 
  4.26  solicitations, the commissioner shall include subscribers who 
  4.27  live in Minnesota and are included in the national list in the 
  4.28  list established under this section. 
  4.29     Sec. 5.  [325E.314] [FEES; ACQUISITION AND USE OF LIST.] 
  4.30     (a) A person or entity desiring to make telephone 
  4.31  solicitations shall pay a fee, payable to the commissioner, for 
  4.32  access to, or for paper or electronic copies of, the list 
  4.33  established under section 325E.313.  The fee shall not exceed 
  4.34  $50 for each acquisition of the list.  
  4.35     (b) A caller who makes a telephone solicitation to the 
  4.36  telephone line of any residential subscriber must, at the time 
  5.1   of the call, have obtained access to a current version of the 
  5.2   list at least once in the 185 days prior to the call.  A caller 
  5.3   who complies with this requirement is not liable for any 
  5.4   violation of section 325E.312 relating to a solicitation made to 
  5.5   a subscriber during the first 30 days after the caller first 
  5.6   obtains a copy of a list that includes the subscriber's 
  5.7   telephone number.  
  5.8      Sec. 6.  [325E.315] [RELEASE OF INFORMATION.] 
  5.9      Information contained in the list established under section 
  5.10  325E.313 shall be used only for the purposes of compliance with 
  5.11  sections 325E.311 to 325E.316 or in a proceeding or action under 
  5.12  section 325E.316.  The information contained in the list is 
  5.13  private data on individuals or nonpublic data as defined in 
  5.14  section 13.02. 
  5.15     Sec. 7.  [325E.316] [PENALTIES.] 
  5.16     Subdivision 1.  [ENFORCEMENT BY COMMISSIONER.] In enforcing 
  5.17  sections 325E.311 to 325E.316, the commissioner has all powers 
  5.18  provided by section 45.027, including, but not limited to, the 
  5.19  power to impose a civil penalty to a maximum of $1,000 for each 
  5.20  solicitation that violates section 325E.312. 
  5.21     Subd. 2.  [DEFENSES.] (a) In any action or proceeding 
  5.22  against a person under this section, it shall be a defense that 
  5.23  the defendant has established and implemented, with due care, 
  5.24  reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent 
  5.25  telephone solicitations in violation of section 325E.312. 
  5.26     (b) No provider of caller identification service shall be 
  5.27  held liable for violations of section 325E.312 committed by 
  5.28  other persons or entities. 
  5.29     Subd. 3.  [TIME LIMITATIONS.] No action or proceeding may 
  5.30  be brought under this section: 
  5.31     (1) more than two years after the person bringing the 
  5.32  action knew or should have known of the alleged violation; or 
  5.33     (2) more than two years after the termination of any 
  5.34  proceeding or action by the state of Minnesota, whichever is 
  5.35  later. 
  5.36     Subd. 4.  [JURISDICTION.] A court of this state may 
  6.1   exercise personal jurisdiction over any nonresident or the 
  6.2   nonresident's executor or administrator as to an action or 
  6.3   proceeding authorized by this section according to the 
  6.4   provisions of section 543.19. 
  6.5      Subd. 5.  [OTHER REMEDIES.] The remedies, duties, 
  6.6   prohibitions, and penalties of this section are not exclusive 
  6.7   and are in addition to all other causes of action, remedies, and 
  6.8   penalties provided by law.