II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 975

To amend chapter 30 of title 39, United States Code, to provide for a

uniform notification system under which individuals may elect not to

receive mailings relating to skill contests or sweepstakes, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 6, 1999

Mr. EDWARDS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To amend chapter 30 of title 39, United States Code, to

provide for a uniform notification system under which

individuals may elect not to receive mailings relating

to skill contests or sweepstakes, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sweepstakes Toll-Free

5 Option Protection Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS OF PROMOTERS OF SKILL CON2 TESTS OR SWEEPSTAKES MAILINGS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 30 of title 39, United

4 States Code, is amended by adding after section 3015 the

5 following:

6 ‘‘§ 3016. Nonmailable skill contests or sweepstakes

7 matter; notification to prohibit mailings

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term—

9 ‘‘(1) ‘promoter’ means any person who origi10 nates and causes to be mailed any skill contest or

11 sweepstakes;

12 ‘‘(2) ‘removal request form’ means a written

13 form stating that an individual—

14 ‘‘(A) does not consent to the name and ad15 dress of such individual being included on any

16 list used by a promoter for mailing skill con17 tests or sweepstakes; and

18 ‘‘(B) elects to have such name and address

19 excluded from any such list;

20 ‘‘(3) ‘skill contest’ means a puzzle, game, com21 petition, or other contest in which—

22 ‘‘(A) a prize is awarded or offered;

23 ‘‘(B) the outcome depends predominately

24 on the skill of the contestant; and
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1 ‘‘(C) a purchase, payment, or donation is

2 required or implied to be required to enter the

3 contest; and

4 ‘‘(4) ‘sweepstakes’ means a game of chance for

5 which no consideration is required to enter.

6 ‘‘(b) NONMAILABLE MATTER.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Matter otherwise legally ac8 ceptable in the mails described under paragraph

9 (2)—

10 ‘‘(A) is nonmailable matter;

11 ‘‘(B) shall not be carried or delivered by

12 mail; and

13 ‘‘(C) shall be disposed of as the Postal

14 Service directs.

15 ‘‘(2) NONMAILABLE MATTER DESCRIBED.—

16 Matter that is nonmailable matter referred to under

17 paragraph (1) is any matter that—

18 ‘‘(A) is a skill contest or sweepstakes; and

19 ‘‘(B) is addressed to an individual who

20 made an election to be excluded from lists

21 under subsection (e).

22 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS OF PROMOTERS.—

23 ‘‘(1) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS.—Any promoter

24 who mails a skill contest or sweepstakes shall pro-
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1 vide with each mailing a clear and conspicuous state2 ment that—

3 ‘‘(A) includes the address and toll-free tele4 phone number of the notification system estab5 lished under paragraph (2); and

6 ‘‘(B) states the system can be used to pro7 hibit the mailing of any skill contest or sweep8 stakes to such individual.

9 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.—Any promoter

10 that mails a skill contest or sweepstakes shall par11 ticipate in the establishment and maintenance of a

12 uniform notification system that provides for any in13 dividual (or other duly authorized person) to notify

14 the system of the individual’s election to have the

15 name and address of the individual excluded from

16 any list of names and addresses used by any pro17 moter to mail any skill contest or sweepstakes; and

18 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.—

19 ‘‘(1) CALL TO TOLL-FREE NUMBER.—If an in20 dividual contacts the notification system through use

21 of the toll-free telephone number published under

22 subsection (c)(2), the system shall—

23 ‘‘(A) inform the individual of the informa24 tion described under subsection (c)(1)(B);
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1 ‘‘(B) inform the individual that a removal

2 request form shall be mailed within such 7 busi3 ness days; and

4 ‘‘(C) inform the individual that the election

5 to prohibit mailings of skill contests or sweep6 stakes to that individual shall take effect 30

7 business days after receipt by the system of the

8 signed removal request form or other signed

9 written request by the individual.

10 ‘‘(2) REMOVAL REQUEST FORM.—Upon request

11 of the individual, the system shall mail a removal re12 quest form to the individual not later than 7 busi13 ness days after the date of the telephone commu14 nication. A removal request form shall contain—

15 ‘‘(A) a clear, concise statement to exclude

16 a name and address from the applicable mailing

17 lists; and

18 ‘‘(B) no matter other than the form and

19 the address of the notification system.

20 ‘‘(e) ELECTION TO BE EXCLUDED FROM LISTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual may elect to

22 exclude the name and address of such individual

23 from all mailing lists used by promoters of skill con24 tests or sweepstakes by mailing a removal request
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1 form to the notification system established under

2 subsection (c).

3 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE AFTER MAILING FORM TO THE

4 NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.—Not later than 30 business

5 days after receipt of a removal request form, all pro6 moters who maintain lists containing the individual’s

7 name or address for purposes of mailing skill con8 tests or sweepstakes shall exclude such individual’s

9 name and address from all such lists.

10 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVENESS OF ELECTION.—An elec11 tion under paragraph (1) shall—

12 ‘‘(A) be effective with respect to every pro13 moter; and

14 ‘‘(B) remain in effect, unless an individual

15 notifies the system in writing that such

16 individual—

17 ‘‘(i) has changed the election; and

18 ‘‘(ii) elects to receive skill contest or

19 sweepstakes mailings.

20 ‘‘(f) PROMOTER NONLIABILITY.—A promoter, or any

21 other person maintaining the notification system estab22 lished under this section, shall not have civil liability for

23 the exclusion of an individual’s name or address from any

24 mailing list maintained by a promoter for mailing skill

25 contests or sweepstakes, if—
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1 ‘‘(1) a request for removal form is received by

2 the notification system; and

3 ‘‘(2) the promoter or person maintaining the

4 system has a good faith belief that the request is

5 from—

6 ‘‘(A) the individual whose name and ad7 dress is to be excluded; or

8 ‘‘(B) another duly authorized person.

9 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION ON COMMERCIAL USE OF

10 LISTS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

12 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No person may pro13 vide any information (including the sale or rent14 al of any name or address) in a list described

15 under subparagraph (B) to another person for

16 commercial use.

17 ‘‘(B) LISTS.—A list referred to under sub18 paragraph (A) is any list of names and address19 es (or other related information) used, main20 tained, or created by the system established by

21 this Act.

22 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person who violates

23 paragraph (1) shall be assessed a civil penalty by the

24 Postal Service.

25 ‘‘(h) CIVIL PENALTIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any promoter—

2 ‘‘(A) who recklessly mails nonmailable

3 matter in violation of subsection (b) shall be lia4 ble to the United States in an amount of

5 $10,000 per violation for each mailing of non6 mailable matter; or

7 ‘‘(B) who fails to substantially comply with

8 the requirements of subsection (c)(2) shall be

9 liable to the United States.

10 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Postal Service shall

11 assess civil penalties under this section.’’.

12 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

13 The table of sections for chapter 30 of title 39, United

14 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating

15 to section 3015 the following:

‘‘3016. Nonmailable skill contests or sweepstakes matter; notification to prohibit

mailings.’’.

16 SEC. 3. STATE LAW NOT PREEMPTED.

17 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt any

18 provision of State or local law.

19 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

21 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.

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