HBA-DMD C.S.H.B. 2420 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2420 By: Driver Business & Industry 4/4/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits the transmission of unsolicited faxed advertisements. However, a federal court has ruled that the federal law applies only to interstate transmission. Currently, Texas does not have a law specifically authorizing a private right of action under TCPA. C.S.H.B. 2420 prohibits a person from using any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send to a telephone facsimile machine an unsolicited advertisement or an advertisement that does not contain a toll-free telephone number and address that the recipient may contact in order to stop receiving advertisements. This bill also establishes required actions to be taken by the person upon receiving a request from a recipient. This bill prohibits a person from sending an advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine during certain times. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 37, Business & Commerce Code, by adding Section 37.031, as follows: Sec. 37.031. ADVERTISEMENT SENT TO FACSIMILE MACHINE. (a) Defines "advertisement" and "unsolicited advertisement." (b) Prohibits a person from using any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send to a telephone facsimile machine an unsolicited advertisement, or an advertisement that does not contain, in at least 12-point type, a toll-free telephone number and address that the recipient may contact in order to stop receiving additional advertisements. (c) Specifies actions required to be taken by a person upon receiving a request from a recipient under Subsection (b). (d) Prohibits a person from sending an advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine before 12 noon or after 9 p.m. on a Sunday or before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. on a weekday or Saturday. (e) Specifies the conditions under which this section does not apply. SECTION 2.Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3.Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2420 differs from the original bill in SECTION 1 (proposed Section 37.031, Business & Commerce Code) to specify in the prohibition against using any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send to a facsimile machine an advertisement, the requirement that the disclosure information must be in at least 12-point type. This substitute creates new text for Subsection (c) and creates new Subsections (d) and (e). Subsection (c) adds the actions required to be taken by the person upon receiving a request from a recipient. Subsection (d) prohibits a person from sending an advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine before 12 noon or after 9 p.m. on a Sunday or before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. on a weekday or Saturday. Subsection (e) specifies the conditions under which this section does not apply. Proposed Subsection (c) of the original bill provided that a person who has been notified that a recipient does not want to receive any additional advertisements may not send any additional advertisements to that recipient.