Bill Text: NY A00675 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Limits robocalls to state residents and requires telephone service providers to offer free call mitigation technology to telephone customers.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 40-14)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to corporations, authorities and commissions [A00675 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A00675-Amended.html
Bill Title: Limits robocalls to state residents and requires telephone service providers to offer free call mitigation technology to telephone customers.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 40-14)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to corporations, authorities and commissions [A00675 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A00675-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 675--B 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. NIOU, ZEBROWSKI, COLTON, RICHARDSON, FITZPATRICK, EICHENSTEIN, KIM, ENGLEBRIGHT, FRONTUS, FAHY, D. ROSENTHAL, SOLAGES, BUCHWALD, D'URSO, GOTTFRIED, LiPETRI, MORINELLO, L. ROSENTHAL, WEPRIN, PEOPLES-STOKES, SEAWRIGHT, REYES, NORRIS, WALCZYK, BLANKENBUSH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BYRNES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amend- ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to limiting robo- calls to state residents and to require telephone service providers to offer free call mitigation technology to telephone customers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "robocall 2 prevention act". 3 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 91-b to 4 read as follows: 5 § 91-b. Robocalls. 1. As used in this section: 6 (a) "Robocall" means a call made, including a text message sent: 7 (i) using equipment that makes a series of calls to stored telephone 8 numbers, including numbers stored on a list, or to telephone numbers 9 produced using a random or sequential number generator, except for a 10 call made using only equipment that the caller demonstrates requires 11 substantial additional human intervention to dial or place a call after 12 a human initiates the call or series of calls; or 13 (ii) using an artificial or prerecorded voice. 14 (b) "Call mitigation technology" means technology that identifies an 15 incoming call or text message as being, or as probably being, a robocall 16 and, on that basis, blocks the call or message, diverts it to the called EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02262-09-9A. 675--B 2 1 person's answering system, or otherwise prevents it from being completed 2 to the called person, except that it permits a call or text so identi- 3 fied to be completed when it is identified as being made by a law 4 enforcement or public safety entity, or when it is identified as origi- 5 nating from a caller with respect to whom the called person has provided 6 prior express consent to receive such a call or message and has not 7 revoked that consent. 8 (c) "Labor organization" means any organization of any kind which 9 exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of representing employees 10 employed within the state of New York in dealing with employers or 11 employer organizations or with a state government, or any political or 12 civil subdivision or other agency thereof, concerning terms and condi- 13 tions of employment, grievances, labor disputes, or other matters inci- 14 dental to the employment relationship. For the purposes of this section, 15 each local, parent national or parent international organization of a 16 statewide labor organization, and each statewide federation receiving 17 dues from subsidiary labor organizations, shall be considered a separate 18 labor organization. 19 (d) "Prior express consent" for a call means that the purpose of the 20 call must be closely related to the purpose for which the telephone 21 number was originally provided by the called party. 22 2. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to make any robo- 23 call other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the 24 prior express consent of the called party, to any telephone number owned 25 by a person or entity in the state. A customer's prior express consent 26 can be revoked by the customer at any time in any reasonable manner, 27 regardless of the context in which the owner or user of the telephone 28 provided consent. 29 (b) The commission shall prescribe regulations to implement the 30 provisions of this subdivision, and may exempt from the requirements of 31 this subdivision, subject to such conditions as the commission may 32 prescribe, calls made to a residential telephone line that are not made 33 for a commercial purpose. 34 (c) The provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall not 35 apply to any communications made by a labor organization, or by a non- 36 profit organization which is federally tax-exempt pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 37 501(c), to such organization's members or to the households of such 38 members. 39 3. (a) A telephone service provider that provides telephone service to 40 customers residing in the state shall make call mitigation technology 41 available to any such customer, upon request, and at no additional 42 charge. Such provider shall also offer to any such customer the ability 43 to have the provider prevent calls and text messages identified as orig- 44 inating from a particular person from being completed to the called 45 person, upon request, and at no additional charge. 46 (b) The commission shall prescribe regulations to implement the 47 requirements of this subdivision, including, if appropriate, a reason- 48 able delay in requiring implementation and offering of call mitigation 49 technology if for good cause, taking into account the consumer 50 protection purposes of this section, and including procedures for 51 addressing incidents in which a call wanted by the customer is prevented 52 from reaching the customer. 53 4. (a) Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an appli- 54 cation may be made by the attorney general in the name of the people of 55 the state of New York to a court or justice having jurisdiction to issue 56 an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than fiveA. 675--B 3 1 days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violations; and if 2 it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court or justice, that the 3 defendant has, in fact, violated this section an injunction may be 4 issued by such court or justice enjoining and restraining any further 5 violation, without requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been 6 injured or damaged thereby. In any such proceeding, the court may make 7 allowances to the attorney general as provided in paragraph six of 8 subdivision (a) of section eighty-three hundred three of the civil prac- 9 tice law and rules, and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall 10 determine that a violation of subdivision two of this section has 11 occurred, the court may impose a civil penalty of not more than two 12 thousand dollars per call, up to a total of not more than twenty thou- 13 sand dollars, for calls placed in violation of such subdivision within a 14 continuous seventy-two hour period. In connection with any such proposed 15 application, the attorney general is authorized to take proof and make a 16 determination of the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance 17 with the civil practice law and rules. 18 (b) In addition to the right of action granted to the attorney general 19 pursuant to this section, any person harmed by a violation of the 20 provisions of subdivision two of this section, or of any regulations 21 promulgated by the commission relating to this section, may bring an 22 action in any court of competent jurisdiction: 23 (i) to enjoin such violation; and/or 24 (ii) to recover for actual monetary loss from such violation or to 25 receive five hundred dollars in damages for such violation, whichever is 26 greater. 27 (c) If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly 28 violated the provisions of subdivision two of this section or any regu- 29 lations prescribed hereunder, the court may, in its discretion, increase 30 the amount of the monetary award to an amount equal to not more than 31 three times the amount available pursuant to paragraph (b) of this 32 subdivision. 33 (d) No action to recover damages for a violation of the provisions of 34 this section may be brought more than four years after the alleged 35 violation occurred. 36 § 3. If any provision of this act, or any application of any provision 37 of this act, is held to be invalid, that shall not affect the validity 38 or effectiveness of any other provision of this act, or of any other 39 application of any provision of this act, which can be given effect 40 without that provision or application; and to that end, the provisions 41 and applications of this act are severable. 42 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 43 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment 44 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation 45 of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made 46 and completed on or before such effective date.
