76R10656 DWS-F
By Goolsby H.B. No. 23
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 23:
By Goolsby C.S.H.B. No. 23
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to liability for certain prohibited telephone
1-3 communications.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 35.47, Business & Commerce Code, is
1-6 amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsections
1-7 (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
1-8 (c) A person may not make or cause to be made a transmission
1-9 for the purpose of a solicitation or sale to a facsimile recording
1-10 device after 11 p.m. and before 7 a.m.
1-11 (d) A person who makes or causes to be made a transmission
1-12 to a facsimile recording device for the purpose of a solicitation
1-13 or sale shall include in the document transmitted or on a cover
1-14 page to the document a statement, in at least 12-point type,
1-15 informing the recipient of a toll-free telephone number at which
1-16 the recipient may notify the person not to send any further
1-17 transmissions to one or more telephone numbers specified by the
1-18 recipient. On receipt of notification from a recipient under this
1-19 subsection, the person:
1-20 (1) shall send the recipient a written acknowledgment
1-21 of the recipient's notification; and
1-22 (2) may not make or cause to be made a transmission to
1-23 a number specified by the recipient, except for a single
1-24 transmission to comply with Subdivision (1) of this subsection.
2-1 (e) On complaint of a called person that Subsection (a),
2-2 [or] (b), (c), or (d) of this section has been violated, the county
2-3 or district attorney of the county in which the person resides
2-4 shall investigate the complaint and file charges if appropriate. A
2-5 telephone company serving the caller or called person is not
2-6 responsible for investigating a complaint or keeping records
2-7 relating to this section.
2-8 (f) [(d)] A person who violates Subsection (a), [or] (b),
2-9 (c), or (d) of this section commits an offense. An offense under
2-10 this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
2-11 (g) A person who receives a communication that violates 47
2-12 U.S.C. Section 227, a regulation adopted under that provision, or
2-13 this section may bring an action against the person who originates
2-14 the communication in a court of this state for an injunction,
2-15 damages in the amount provided by this subsection, or both. A
2-16 plaintiff prevailing in an action for damages under this subsection
2-17 is entitled to the greater of $500 for each violation or the
2-18 person's actual damages, except that the court may increase the
2-19 amount of the award to not more than the greater of $1,500 for each
2-20 violation or three times the person's actual damages if the court
2-21 finds that the defendant:
2-22 (1) committed the violation knowingly or
2-23 intentionally; or
2-24 (2) violated Subsection (c) of this section after the
2-25 defendant received a notification under Subsection (d) of this
2-26 section that prohibited transmissions to the telephone number to
2-27 which the transmission in violation of Subsection (c) of this
3-1 section was made.
3-2 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
3-3 to a communication made on or after the effective date of this
3-4 Act.
3-5 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-6 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.