| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to telephone solicitation; amending s. |
| 3 | 501.059, F.S.; defining the term "politically oriented |
| 4 | telephone call"; prohibiting a telephone solicitor or |
| 5 | person acting on behalf of a candidate for a federal, |
| 6 | state, or local political office, committee of continuous |
| 7 | existence, or other political entity from making a |
| 8 | politically oriented telephone call to a person whose |
| 9 | number is in the "no sales solicitation calls" list |
| 10 | maintained by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer |
| 11 | Services or which involves the playing of a recorded |
| 12 | message; providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Paragraph (j) is added to subsection (1) of |
| 17 | section 501.059, Florida Statutes, and subsections (4) and (7) |
| 18 | of that section are amended, to read: |
| 19 | 501.059 Telephone solicitation.-- |
| 20 | (1) As used in this section: |
| 21 | (j) "Politically oriented telephone call" means an |
| 22 | outbound telephone call, the purpose of which is to promote, |
| 23 | advertise, campaign for or against, or solicit donations on |
| 24 | behalf of any political candidate or political issue, or which |
| 25 | uses in the call a political candidate's name. |
| 26 | (4)(a) A No telephone solicitor may not shall make or |
| 27 | cause to be made any unsolicited telephonic sales call or a |
| 28 | politically oriented telephone call to any residential, mobile, |
| 29 | or telephonic paging device telephone number if the number for |
| 30 | that telephone appears in the then-current quarterly listing |
| 31 | published by the department. |
| 32 | (b) Any telephone solicitor or person who offers for sale |
| 33 | any consumer information that which includes residential, |
| 34 | mobile, or telephonic paging device telephone numbers, except |
| 35 | directory assistance and telephone directories sold by telephone |
| 36 | companies and organizations exempt under s. 501(c)(3) or (6) of |
| 37 | the Internal Revenue Code, shall screen and exclude those |
| 38 | numbers that which appear on the division's then-current "no |
| 39 | sales solicitation calls" list. |
| 40 | (c) This subsection does not apply to any person licensed |
| 41 | under pursuant to chapter 475 who calls an actual or prospective |
| 42 | seller or lessor of real property when the such call is made in |
| 43 | response to a yard sign or other form of advertisement placed by |
| 44 | the seller or lessor. |
| 45 | (7)(a) A No person may not shall make or knowingly allow a |
| 46 | telephonic sales call to be made if the such call involves an |
| 47 | automated system for the selection or dialing of telephone |
| 48 | numbers or the playing of a recorded message when a connection |
| 49 | is completed to a number called. |
| 50 | (b) A person acting on behalf of a candidate for a |
| 51 | federal, state, or local political office, committee of |
| 52 | continuous existence, or other political entity may not make or |
| 53 | knowingly allow a politically oriented telephone call to be made |
| 54 | to any number on the department's "no sales solicitation calls" |
| 55 | list if the call involves the playing of a recorded message when |
| 56 | a connection is completed to the number called or if the call is |
| 57 | a telephone call commonly referred to as a "robo call." |
| 58 | (c)(b) This subsection does not prohibit Nothing herein |
| 59 | prohibits the use of an automated telephone dialing system with |
| 60 | live messages if the calls are made or messages given solely in |
| 61 | response to calls initiated by the persons to whom the automatic |
| 62 | calls or live messages are directed or if the telephone numbers |
| 63 | selected for automatic dialing have been screened to exclude any |
| 64 | telephone subscriber who is included on the department's then- |
| 65 | current "no sales solicitation calls" listing or any unlisted |
| 66 | telephone number, or if the calls made concern goods or services |
| 67 | that have been previously ordered or purchased. |
| 68 | (d)(c) A It shall be unlawful for any person who makes a |
| 69 | telephonic sales call or causes a telephonic sales call to be |
| 70 | made may not to fail to transmit or cause not to be transmitted |
| 71 | the telephone number and, when made available by the telephone |
| 72 | solicitor's carrier, the name of the telephone solicitor to any |
| 73 | caller identification service in use by a recipient of a |
| 74 | telephonic sales call. However, it is shall not be a violation |
| 75 | to substitute, for the name and telephone number used in or |
| 76 | billed for making the call, the name of the seller on behalf of |
| 77 | which a telephonic sales call is placed and the seller's |
| 78 | customer service telephone number, which is answered during |
| 79 | regular business hours. For purposes of this section, the term |
| 80 | "caller identification service" means a service that allows a |
| 81 | telephone subscriber to have the telephone number and, where |
| 82 | available, the name of the calling party transmitted |
| 83 | contemporaneously with the telephone call and displayed on a |
| 84 | device in or connected to the subscriber's telephone. |
| 85 | (e)(d) A It shall be unlawful for any person who makes a |
| 86 | telephonic sales call or causes a telephonic sales call to be |
| 87 | made may not to intentionally alter the voice of the caller in |
| 88 | an attempt to disguise or conceal the identity of the caller in |
| 89 | order to defraud, confuse, or financially or otherwise injure |
| 90 | the recipient of a telephonic sales call or in order to obtain |
| 91 | personal information from the recipient of a telephonic sales |
| 92 | call which may be used in a fraudulent or unlawful manner. |
| 93 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |