Allows individuals to register their telefacsimile telephone numbers with the consumer protection board as part of the "do not call" statewide registry

Subsection (k) defines "unsolicited telefacsimile advertisement" to mean any telefacsimile message that promotes goods and services for purchase by the recipient of such message, except when the recipient has a pre-existing business relationship or contractual relationship with the initiator of the message.

Subsection (1) defines "telefacsimile" to mean every process in which electronic signals are transmitted by telephone lines for conversion into written text.

Subsection (m) defines "telefacsimile advertiser" means any person, corporation, partnership or association who initiates unsolicited telefacsimile advertisements.

(2)(a) authorizes the board to maintain a no telemarketing sales calls and telefacsimile advertising statewide registry listing customers who do not wish to receive unsolicited calls or faxes. (b) permits the sharing of phone numbers on this list with the federal trade commission for inclusion on the national "do not call" registry.

3(a) prohibits a telemarketer from making or causing to be made any unsolicited telemarketing sales call or unsolicited telefacsimile. (b) no telefacsimile advertiser may make or cause to be made any unsolicited telefacsimile advertisement 31 days after the customer's name and number has been published on the no telemarketing sales calls land telefacsimile advertising registry.

4. Sellers of fax equipment must post a sign informing their customers of the provisions of this section.

Section 2: amends section 92-d of the public service law to require phone companies to notify their customers of the no telemarketing sales call and telefacsimile advertising statewide registry as is currently required for telemarketing calls.

Section 3: amends section 97-www of the state finance law, fees and fines collected from the registry shall be deposited in the consumer protection account and be used to pay for the cost of producing and distributing educational materials.

Section 4: separablity clause.

Section 5: effective date. EXISTING LAW : As created in 2000, section 399-z of the General Business Law contains a procedure for consumers to remove their names from the call lists of telemarketers. This bill would add to these consumer protections by providing a means to add personal facsimile numbers to the "do not call" list.

Justification

Currently, section 396-aa of the General Business Law prohibits the sending of unsolicited telefacsimile advertisements during the work day. The law was created to prevent the annoying practice of marketers who advertise products via facsimile from tying up an individual's fax line and preventing business related facsimiles from being transmitted in a timely fashion. Therefore, the statute limits an unsolicited telefacsimile advertisement to five pages and restricts the time period during which such facsimiles may be received to between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time.

However, with the growth of technology, a large number of people are working from home offices. Therefore, the prohibitions that provide for receipt of these advertisements during nonworking hours are no longer sufficient to protect the consumer working out of a home office. Thus, some individuals have complained that similar to the receipt of junk e-mail, the receipt of unsolicited telefacsimile advertisements are a tax on the consumer by forcing consumers to receive these advertisements at their own expense. The consumer must pay for the telephone time used in the transmission of these faxes, as well as, the office products, such as paper and toner, that these advertisements use. Since the current law restricts the transmission of these telefacsimile advertisements to non-working hours, many times people are awakened by the sound of a ringing fax machine in the middle of the night.

To rectify this situation, this legislation would allow individuals to submit their personal fax numbers for inclusion in the "do not call" list, making telefacsimi1e advertisers responsible to update their lists and remove registrants from their telefacsimile advertising lists in the same way that telemarketers are required to update their call lists. The "do not call" list has been extremely successful in reducing the number of annoying telemarketing calls received by a consumer. By amending this statute to include unsolicited telefacsimile advertisements, the registry will expand its protections further to reduce the number of unwanted intrusions into the consumers' homes.

Legislative history

2007-2008 - Consumer Protection

Fiscal implications

Minimal to register new applicants.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the 180th day after it shall have become a law, except that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation of section one of this act on its effective date is authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before the effective date.