II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3291 

To prohibit unauthorized third-party charges on wireline telephone bills, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2012 

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

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prohibit unauthorized third-party charges on wireline 

telephone bills, 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 ‘‘Fair Telephone Billing 

5 Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) For years, telephone users have complained 

9 that their wireline telephone bills included unauthor10 ized third-party charges. 


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1 (2) This problem, commonly referred to as 

2 ‘‘cramming’’, first appeared in the 1990s, after 

3 wireline telephone companies opened their billing 

4 platforms to an array of third-party vendors offering 

5 a variety of services. 

6 (3) Since the 1990s, the Federal Communica7 tions Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, 

8 and State attorneys general have brought multiple 

9 enforcement actions against dozens of individuals 

10 and companies for engaging in cramming. 

11 (4) An investigation by the Committee on Com12 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

13 confirmed that cramming is a problem of massive 

14 proportions and has affected millions of telephone 

15 users, costing them billions of dollars in unauthor16 ized third-party charges over the past decade. 

17 (5) The Committee showed that third-party bill18 ing through wireline telephone numbers has largely 

19 failed to become a reliable method of payment that 

20 consumers and businesses can use to conduct legiti21 mate commerce. 

22 (6) Telephone companies regularly placed third23 party charges on their customers’ telephone bills 

24 without their customers’ authorization. 


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1 (7) Many companies engaged in third-party bill2 ing were illegitimate and created solely to exploit the 

3 weaknesses in the third-party billing platforms es4 tablished by telephone companies. 

5 (8) In the last decade, millions of business and 

6 residential consumers have transitioned from 

7 wireline telephone service to interconnected VoIP 

8 service. 

9 (9) Users of interconnected VoIP service often 

10 use the service as the primary telephone line for 

11 their residences and businesses. 

12 (10) Users of interconnected VoIP service that 

13 have telephone numbers through the service should 

14 be protected from the same vulnerabilities that af15 fected third-party billing through wireline telephone 

16 numbers. 

17 (11) In increasing numbers, wireless users are 

18 making the same complaints that wireline telephone 

19 users have been making since the 1990s. 

20 (12) Wireless users are reporting unauthorized 

21 third-party charges on their wireless bills for services 

22 they did not enroll in. 

23 SEC. 3. UNAUTHORIZED THIRD-PARTY CHARGES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 258 of the Communica25 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 258) is amended— 


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1 (1) by amending the heading to read as follows: 

2 ‘‘SEC. 258. PREVENTING ILLEGAL CHANGES IN

3 SUBSCRIBER CARRIER SECTIONS AND UNAU4 THORIZED THIRD-PARTY CHARGES.’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No local exchange carrier 

8 or provider of interconnected VoIP service shall 

9 place a third-party charge that is not directly related 

10 to the provision of telephone services on the bill of 

11 a customer, unless— 

12 ‘‘(A) the third-party charge is from a cer13 tified third-party vendor; 

14 ‘‘(B) the third-party charge is for a prod15 uct or service that a local exchange carrier or 

16 provider of interconnected VoIP service jointly 

17 markets or jointly sells with its own service; 

18 ‘‘(C) the customer affirmatively consented 

19 to the placement of the third-party charge on 

20 the bill; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the local exchange carrier or provider 

22 of interconnected VoIP service has a good faith 

23 reason to believe that the third-party charge is 

24 for a product or service requested by the cus25 tomer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FORFEITURE.—Any person who commits a 

2 violation under paragraph (1) shall be subject to a 

3 civil forfeiture, which shall be determined in accord4 ance with section 503, except that the amount of the 

5 penalty shall be double the otherwise applicable 

6 amount of the penalty under section 503. 

7 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) CERTIFIED THIRD-PARTY VENDOR.— 

9 The term ‘certified third-party vendor’ means a 

10 person that has a contractual right to receive 

11 billing and collection services from a local ex12 change carrier or a provider of interconnected 

13 VoIP service. 

14 ‘‘(B) THIRD-PARTY CHARGE.—The term 

15 ‘third-party charge’ means a charge for a prod16 uct or service not provided by a local exchange 

17 carrier or a provider of interconnected VoIP 

18 service that is included on a bill for the services 

19 the local exchange carrier or provider of inter20 connected VoIP service offers to its cus21 tomers.’’. 

22 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communica24 tions Commission shall prescribe any rules necessary to 

25 implement the provisions of this section. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Federal Communica2 tions Commission shall prescribe that any rule adopted 

3 under subsection (b) shall become effective not later than 

4 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. THIRD-PARTY CHARGES ON WIRELESS BILLS. 

6 The Federal Communications Commission, in con7 sultation with the Federal Trade Commission, shall pro8 mulgate, not later than 180 days after the date of enact9 ment of this Act, rules to protect consumers from unau10 thorized third-party charges on wireless bills. The Federal 

11 Communications Commission, in promulgating the rules, 

12 shall— 

13 (1) ensure that a provider of wireless services 

14 gives each customer of wireless services the means to 

15 avoid receiving third-party charges on the wireless 

16 customer’s wireless bill and clearly and conspicu17 ously discloses this option to the wireless customer; 

18 (2) establish procedures for a provider of wire19 less services to follow to ensure that third-party 

20 charges placed on a wireless customer’s wireless bill 

21 have been authorized by the wireless customer; and 

22 (3) establish procedures to enable a wireless 

23 customer to seek and receive, directly from the proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:05 Jun 14, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3291.IS S3291

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1 vider of wireless services, reimbursement for any un2 authorized third-party charges in a timely manner. 

Æ 


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