[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1144 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1144
To prohibit unauthorized third-party charges on wireline telephone
bills, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 12, 2013
Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Blumenthal)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit unauthorized third-party charges on wireline telephone
bills, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Telephone Billing Act of
2013''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) For years, telephone users have complained that their
wireline telephone bills included unauthorized third-party
charges.
(2) This problem, commonly referred to as ``cramming'',
first appeared in the 1990s, after wireline telephone companies
opened their billing platforms to an array of third-party
vendors offering a variety of services.
(3) Since the 1990s, the Federal Communications Commission,
the Federal Trade Commission, and State attorneys general have
brought multiple enforcement actions against dozens of
individuals and companies for engaging in cramming.
(4) An investigation by the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate confirmed that cramming is a
problem of massive proportions and has affected millions of
telephone users, costing them billions of dollars in
unauthorized third-party charges over the past decade.
(5) The Committee showed that third-party billing through
wireline telephone numbers has largely failed to become a
reliable method of payment that consumers and businesses can
use to conduct legitimate commerce.
(6) Telephone companies regularly placed third-party
charges on their customers' telephone bills without their
customers' authorization.
(7) Many companies engaged in third-party billing were
illegitimate and created solely to exploit the weaknesses in
the third-party billing platforms established by telephone
companies.
(8) In the last decade, millions of business and
residential consumers have transitioned from wireline telephone
service to interconnected VoIP service.
(9) Users of interconnected VoIP service often use the
service as the primary telephone line for their residences and
businesses.
(10) Millions more business and residential consumers are
expected to migrate to interconnected VoIP service in the
coming years as the evolution of the nation's traditional voice
communications networks to IP-based networks continues.
(11) Users of interconnected VoIP service that have
telephone numbers through the service should be protected from
the same vulnerabilities that affected third-party billing
through wireline telephone numbers.
SEC. 3. UNAUTHORIZED THIRD-PARTY CHARGES.
(a) In General.--Section 258 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 258) is amended--
(1) by amending the heading to read as follows: ``sec. 258.
preventing illegal changes in subscriber carrier selections and
unauthorized third-party charges.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Prohibition.--
``(1) In general.--No local exchange carrier or provider of
interconnected VoIP service shall place or cause to be placed a
third-party charge that is not directly related to the
provision of telephone services on the bill of a customer,
unless--
``(A) the third-party charge is from a contracted
third-party vendor;
``(B) the third-party charge is for a product or
service that a local exchange carrier or provider of
interconnected VoIP service jointly markets or jointly
sells with its own service;
``(C) the customer was provided with clear and
conspicuous disclosure of all material terms and
conditions prior to consenting under subparagraph (D);
``(D) the customer provided affirmative consent for
the placement of the third-party charge on the bill;
and
``(E) the local exchange carrier or provider of
interconnected VoIP service has implemented reasonable
procedures to ensure that the third-party charge is for
a product or service requested by the customer.
``(2) Forfeiture and refund.--
``(A) In general.--Any person who commits a
violation of paragraph (1) shall be subject to a civil
forfeiture, which shall be determined in accordance
with section 503 of title V of this Act, except that
the amount of the penalty shall be double the otherwise
applicable amount of the penalty under that section.
``(B) Refund.--Any local exchange carrier or
provider of interconnected VoIP service that commits a
violation of paragraph (1) shall be liable to the
customer in an amount equal to all charges paid by that
customer related to the violation of paragraph (1), in
accordance with such procedures as the Commission may
prescribe.
``(3) Additional remedies.--The remedies under this
subsection are in addition to any other remedies provided by
law.
``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Affirmative consent.--The term `affirmative
consent' means express verifiable authorization.
``(B) Contracted third-party vendor.--The term
`contracted third-party vendor' means a person that has
a contractual right to receive billing and collection
services from a local exchange carrier or a provider of
interconnected VoIP service for a product or service
that the person provides directly to a customer.
``(C) Third-party charge.--The term `third-party
charge' means a charge for a product or service not
provided by a local exchange carrier or a provider of
interconnected VoIP service.''.
(b) Rulemaking.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission,
in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission, shall
prescribe any rules necessary to implement the provisions of
this section.
(2) Minimum contents.--At a minimum, the regulations
promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission under this
subsection shall--
(A) define how local exchange carriers and
providers of interconnected VoIP service will obtain
affirmative consent from a consumer for a third-party
charge;
(B) include adequate protections to ensure that
consumers are fully aware of the charges to which they
are consenting; and
(C) impose recordkeeping requirements on local
exchange carriers and providers of interconnected VoIP
service related to any grants of affirmative consent by
consumers.
(c) Effective Date.--The Federal Communications Commission shall
prescribe that any rule adopted under subsection (b) shall become
effective for a local exchange carrier or provider of interconnected
VoIP service not later than the date that the carrier's or provider's
contractual obligation to permit another person to charge a customer
for a good or service on a bill rendered by the carrier or provider
expires, or 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever
is earlier.
SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.
(a) No Preemption of State Laws.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to preempt any State law, except that no State law may
relieve any person of a requirement otherwise applicable under this
Act.
(b) Preservation of FTC Authority.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed as modifying, limiting, or otherwise affecting the
applicability of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et
seq.) or any other law enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act or the application of that provision
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this
Act and the application of that provision to any other person or
circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
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