,,ii #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #aadd ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #ab1 #bjac ,mr4 ,rockefeller 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,klobuchar1 and ,mr4 ,blumenthal7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation ,a ,,bill ,to prohibit unauthorized third-party charges on wireline telephone bills1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,fair ,telephone ,billing ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,for years1 telephone users have complained that their wireline telephone bills included unauthorized third-party charges4 7#b7 ,this problem1 commonly referred to as cramming1 first appeared in the #aiijs1 after wireline telephone companies opened their billing platforms to an array of third-party vendors offering a variety of services4 7#c7 ,since the #aiijs1 the ,federal ,communications ,commission1 the ,federal ,trade ,commission1 and ,state attorneys general have brought multiple enforcement actions against dozens of individuals and companies for engaging in cramming4 7#d7 ,an investigation by the ,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation of the ,senate confirmed that cramming is a problem of massive proportions and has affected millions of telephone users1 costing them billions of dollars in unauthorized third-party charges over the past decade4 7#e7 ,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 commerce4 7#f7 ,telephone companies regularly placed third-party charges on their customers' telephone bills without their customers' authorization4 7#g7 ,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 companies4 7#h7 ,in the last decade1 millions of business and residential consumers have transitioned from wireline telephone service to interconnected ,vo,i,p service4 7#i7 ,users of interconnected ,vo,i,p service often use the service as the primary telephone line for their residences and businesses4 7#aj7 ,millions more business and residential consumers are expected to migrate to interconnected ,vo,i,p service in the coming years as the evolution of the nation's traditional voice communications networks to ,,ip-based networks continues4 7#aa7 ,users of interconnected ,vo,i,p service that have telephone numbers through the service should be protected from the same vulnerabilities that affected third-party billing through wireline telephone numbers4 #c4 ,unauthorized third-party charges 7a7 ,in general ,section #beh of the ,communications ,act of #aicd 7#dg ,u4,s4,c4 #beh7 is amended-- 7#a7 by amending the heading to read as follows3 ,sec4 #beh4 ,preventing illegal changes in subscriber carrier selections and unauthorized third-party charges42 and 7#b7 by adding at the end the following3 7c7 ,prohibition 7#a7 ,in general ,no local exchange carrier or provider of interconnected ,vo,i,p 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 customer1 unless-- 7,a7 the third-party charge is from a contracted third-party vendor2 7,b7 the third-party charge is for a product or service that a local exchange carrier or provider of interconnected ,vo,i,p service jointly markets or jointly sells with its own service2 7,c7 the customer was provided with clear and conspicuous disclosure of all material terms and conditions prior to consenting under subparagraph 7,d72 7,d7 the customer provided affirmative consent for the placement of the third-party charge on the bill2 and 7,e7 the local exchange carrier or provider of interconnected ,vo,i,p service has implemented reasonable procedures to ensure that the third-party charge is for a product or service requested by the customer4 7#b7 ,forfeiture and refund 7,a7 ,in general ,any person who commits a violation of paragraph 7#a7 shall be subject to a civil forfeiture1 which shall be determined in accordance with section #ejc of title ,v of this ,act1 except that the amount of the penalty shall be double the otherwise applicable amount of the penalty under that section4 7,b7 ,refund ,any local exchange carrier or provider of interconnected ,vo,i,p service that commits a violation of paragraph 7#a7 shall be liable to the customer in an amount equal to all charges paid by that customer related to the violation of paragraph 7#a71 in accordance with such procedures as the ,commission may prescribe4 7#c7 ,additional remedies ,the remedies under this subsection are in addition to any other remedies provided by law4 7#d7 ,definitions ,in this subsection3 7,a7 ,affirmative consent ,the term affirmative consent means express verifiable authorization4 7,b7 ,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 ,vo,i,p service for a product or service that the person provides directly to a customer4 7,c7 ,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 ,vo,i,p service4 4 7b7 ,rulemaking 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #ij days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,federal ,communications ,commission1 in consultation with the ,federal ,trade ,commission1 shall prescribe any rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section4 7#b7 ,minimum contents ,at a minimum1 the regulations promulgated by the ,federal ,communications ,commission under this subsection shall-- 7,a7 define how local exchange carriers and providers of interconnected ,vo,i,p service will obtain affirmative consent from a consumer for a third-party charge2 7,b7 include adequate protections to ensure that consumers are fully aware of the charges to which they are consenting2 and 7,c7 impose recordkeeping requirements on local exchange carriers and providers of interconnected ,vo,i,p service related to any grants of affirmative consent by consumers4 7c7 ,effective date ,the ,federal ,communications ,commission shall prescribe that any rule adopted under subsection 7b7 shall become effective for a local exchange carrier or provider of interconnected ,vo,i,p 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 expires1 or #ahj days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 whichever is earlier4 #d4 ,relationship to other laws 7a7 ,no preemption of ,state laws ,nothing in this ,act shall be construed to preempt any ,state law1 except that no ,state law may relieve any person of a requirement otherwise applicable under this ,act4 7b7 ,preservation of ,,ftc authority ,nothing in this ,act shall be construed as modifying1 limiting1 or otherwise affecting the applicability of the ,federal ,trade ,commission ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #da et seq47 or any other law enforced by the ,federal ,trade ,commission4 #e4 ,severability ,if any provision of this ,act or the application of that provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid1 the remainder of this ,act and the application of that provision to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby4