Z-0761

AN ACT Relating to telephone information delivery services; amending RCW 80.36.500; and adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that the deceptive use of pay-per-call information delivery services is a matter vitally affecting the public interest for the purpose of applying the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW.

(2) The deceptive use of pay-per-call information delivery services is not reasonable in relation to the development and preservation of business. A violation of this chapter is an unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce for the purpose of applying the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW, and constitutes an act of deceptive pay-per-call information delivery service.

(3) This chapter applies to a communication made by a person in Washington or to a person in Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Person" means an individual, corporation, the state or its subdivisions or agencies, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, cooperative, or any other legal entity.

(2) "Information delivery services" means telephone-recorded messages, interactive programs, or other information services that are provided for a charge to a caller through an exclusive telephone number prefix or area code.

(3) "Information provider" means the person who provides the information, prerecorded message, or interactive program for the information delivery service. The information provider generally receives a portion of the revenue from the calls.

(4) "Interactive program" means a program that allows an information delivery service caller, once connected to the information provider's delivery service, to use the caller's telephone device to access more specific information or further information.

(5) "Telecommunications company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town owning, operating, or managing any facilities used to provide telecommunications for hire, sale, or resale to the general public within the state of Washington.

(6) "Interexchange carrier" means a carrier registered with the federal communications commission that is authorized to carry customer transmissions between local access and transport areas interstate or intrastate.

(7) "Billing services" means billing and collection services provided to information providers whether by the local exchange company or the interexchange carrier.

(8) "Program message" means the information that a caller hears or receives upon placing a call to an information provider.

(9) "Advertisement" includes all radio, television, or other broadcast, video, newspaper, magazine, or publication, billboard, direct mail, print media, telemarketing, or any promotion of an information delivery service, program, or number, and includes brochures, pamphlets, fliers, coupons, promotions, or the labeling of products or in-store communications circulated or distributed in any manner whatsoever.

(10) "Subscriber" means the person in whose name an account is billed.

(11) "Does business in Washington" includes providing information delivery services to Washington citizens, advertising information delivery services in Washington, entering into a contract for billing services in Washington, entering into a contract in Washington with a telecommunications company or interexchange carrier for transmission services, or having a principal place of business in Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. When the classification of service under which an information provider is to be served by a telecommunications company requires that the service must be taken for a specified minimum period, a contract must be executed between a telecommunications company and the information provider. A contract with an information provider must require that the information provider comply with sections 5 through 8 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A contract executed between an information provider that does business in Washington and an interexchange carrier, providing for billing services or the carrying of transmissions between local access and transport areas interstate or intrastate, must require that the information provider comply with sections 5 through 8 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. An information provider that does business in Washington must include a preamble in its program messages that:

(1) In the case of programs with a set price per call:

(a) Describes the service that will be provided by the program;

(b) Advises the caller of the price of the call; and

(c) States that the caller has three seconds from the end of the preamble to hang up without incurring a charge for the call;

(2) In the case of interactive programs:

(a) Describes the service that will be provided by the program;

(b) Advises the caller of the average price and length of the call, or if the average length and price of the call cannot reasonably be determined, the total length of any prerecorded messages contained in the call and the total cost that will result from listening to the prerecorded messages; and

(3) Is clearly articulated, at a volume equal to that of the program message, in plain English or the language used to promote the information delivery service, and spoken in a normal cadence.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. An information provider that does business in Washington shall comply with the following provisions in its advertisement of information delivery services:

(1) Advertisements for information delivery services that are broadcast by radio or television, contained in home videos, or that appear on movie screens must include a voice-over announcement that is clearly audible and articulates the price of the service provided. The announcement must be made at a volume equal to that used to announce the telephone number, spoken in a normal cadence, and in plain English or the language used in the advertisement. The advertisement must state the price of the service immediately before the representation of the information provider's telephone number and must repeat the price immediately before that number each time it is given in the advertisement.

(2) Advertisements for information delivery services that are broadcast by television, contained in home videos, or that appear on movie screens must include, in clearly visible letters and numbers set against a contrasting background, the cost of calling the advertised number. This visual disclosure of the cost of the call must be displayed adjacent to the number to be called whenever the number is shown in the advertisement, and the lettering of the visual disclosure of the cost must be in the same size and typeface as that of the number to be called.

(3) Advertisements for information delivery services that appear in print must include, in clearly visible letters and numbers set against a contrasting background, the cost of calling the advertised number. The printed disclosure of the cost of the call must be displayed adjacent to the number to be called wherever the number is shown in the advertisement, and the lettering of the cost disclosure must be the same size and typeface as that of the telephone number advertised.

(4) The price or cost of the information delivery service must be disclosed in advertisements as set forth in subsections (1) through (3) of this section, and must represent the total cost of placing the call to the information delivery service. The statement of a price per minute is not sufficient disclosure under this chapter, except under the following conditions:

(a) If the advertised call is interactive, in that the caller is communicating on the call and thereby affecting the length of the call, and the flat rate or number of minutes a call will last cannot be determined, the advertisement must include, along with disclosure of a price per minute, a projection of the average total price of the call;

(b) If a projection of the average length or total price of the call cannot reasonably be made, the advertisement must disclose, along with disclosure of a price per minute, the total length of any prerecorded messages contained in the call, and the total cost that will result from listening to the prerecorded messages.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. An information provider that does business in the state of Washington shall not provide information delivery services directed at children under the age of twelve years.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. An information provider that does business in the state of Washington shall not direct information delivery services to children under the age of eighteen years unless the information provider complies with the following provisions:

(1) Interactive calls where children under the age of eighteen years can speak to others are prohibited.

(2) Programs where children under the age of eighteen years are asked to provide their names, addresses, telephone numbers, or other identifying information are prohibited.

(3) Advertisements for information delivery services that are directed to children under the age of eighteen years may not contain imperative language, including but not limited to language such as "call now" or "you must call."

(4) Advertisements for information delivery services that are directed to children under the age of eighteen years must contain a message that states that children under the age of eighteen years must obtain parental consent before placing a call to the advertised number.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. (1) An information provider's failure to comply with any of the provisions of sections 5 through 8 of this act is a defense to the nonpayment of charges accrued as a result of using the information provider's services, billed by any entity, including but not limited to telecommunications companies and interexchange carriers.

(2) Each time a subscriber is billed for information provider services by a telecommunications company or interexchange carrier, the bill must include the following statement, printed clearly and conspicuously in direct proximity to the charges for information delivery services:

"Long distance and local telephone service cannot be disconnected for nonpayment of charges made for pay-per-call information delivery services. A violation of Washington's law regarding information delivery services (chapter 19.-- RCW (sections 1 through 10 of this act)) may constitute a defense to nonpayment of those charges."

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. A person who suffers damage from a violation of this chapter may bring an action against an information provider. In an action alleging a violation of this chapter, the court may award the greater of three times the actual damages sustained by the person or five hundred dollars; equitable relief, including but not limited to an injunction and restitution of money and property; attorneys' fees and costs; and any other relief that the court deems proper. For purposes of this section, a telecommunications company or interexchange carrier is a person.

Sec. 11. RCW 80.36.500 and 1988 c 123 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Information delivery services" means telephone recorded messages, interactive programs, or other information services that are provided for a charge to a caller through an exclusive telephone number prefix or area code.

(b) "Information providers" means the persons or corporations that provide the information, prerecorded message, or interactive program for the information delivery service. The information provider generally receives a portion of the revenue from the calls.

(c) "Interactive program" means a program that allows an information delivery service caller, once connected to the information provider's announcement machine, to use the caller's telephone device to access more specific information.

(2) The utilities and transportation commission shall by rule require any local exchange company that offers information delivery services to a local telephone exchange to provide each residential telephone subscriber the opportunity to block access to all information delivery services offered through the local exchange company. The rule shall take effect by October 1, 1988.

(3) All costs of complying with this section shall be borne by the information providers.

(4) The local exchange company shall inform subscribers of the availability of the blocking service through a bill insert and by publication in a local telephone directory.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 10 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.