II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1051

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enhance protections against

unauthorized changes of telephone service subscribers from one telecommunications carrier to another, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 22, 1997

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

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enhance protections against unauthorized changes of telephone service subscribers from one telecommunications carrier to

another, 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 ‘‘Interstate Slamming

5 Prevention Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENT OF PROTECTIONS.

2 (a) LIABILITY FOR ADDITIONAL CHARGES.—Sub3 section (b) of section 258 of the Communications Act of

4 1934 (47 U.S.C. 258) is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘(b) LIABILITY FOR

6 CHARGES.—Any telecommunications carrier’’ in the

7 first sentence and inserting the following:

8 ‘‘(b) LIABILITY FOR CHARGES.—

9 ‘‘(1) CHARGES COLLECTED AFTER VIOLA10 TION.—Any telecommunications carrier’’; and

11 (2) by striking the second sentence and insert12 ing the following:

13 ‘‘(2) FEES FOR CHANGING BACK.—Any tele14 communications carrier described in paragraph (1)

15 shall also be liable to the carrier previously selected

16 by the subscriber concerned for any fees associated

17 with changing the subscriber back to the carrier pre18 viously selected, in accordance with such procedures

19 as the Commission may prescribe.

20 ‘‘(3) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—The

21 remedies provided by this subsection are in addition

22 to any other remedies available by law.’’.

23 (b) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—Such section 258 is

24 further amended by adding at the end the following:

25 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—Any telecommuni26 cations carrier that violates the verification procedures de-
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1 scribed in subsection (a) shall be subject to such additional

2 fines and penalties, including a forfeiture penalty under

3 section 503(b)(1)(B) of this Act, as the Commission shall

4 prescribe.’’.

5 (c) ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Such section 258 is

6 further amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS.—In order to pro8 vide subscribers with additional protections against

9 changes in providers of telephone exchange service or tele10 phone toll service in violation of the verification procedures

11 described in subsection (a), the Commission may prescribe

12 the following:

13 ‘‘(1) A requirement that telecommunications

14 carriers establish toll-free telephone numbers in

15 order to permit subscribers to register complaints re16 garding the execution of such changes in service, in17 cluding the requirement that calls to such numbers

18 be answered in not more than two minutes.

19 ‘‘(2) A requirement that telecommunications

20 carriers provide the Commission such information

21 relating to the complaints made to such carriers re22 garding such changes in service as the Commission

23 considers appropriate.’’.

24 (d) DEADLINE FOR RULEMAKING.—The Federal

25 Communications Commission shall prescribe the regula-
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1 tions required by section 258 of the Communications Act

2 of 1934, as amended by this section, not later than April

3 30, 1998.

4 (e) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—

5 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than October

6 31, 1998, the Commission shall submit to Congress

7 a report on unauthorized changes of subscribers’ se8 lections of providers of telephone exchange service or

9 telephone toll service. The report shall include the

10 following:

11 (A) A list of the ten telecommunications

12 carriers that, during the one-year period ending

13 on the date of the report, were subject to the

14 highest number of complaints of having exe15 cuted unauthorized changes of subscribers from

16 their selected providers of telephone exchange

17 service or telephone toll service when compared

18 with the total number of subscribers served by

19 such carriers.

20 (B) The telecommunications carriers, if

21 any, assessed fines or penalties under section

22 258(c) of the Communications Act of 1934, as

23 added by subsection (c) of this section, during

24 that period, including the amount of each fine

25 or penalty, and whether the fine or penalty was
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1 assessed as a result of a court judgment or an

2 order of the Commission or was secured pursu3 ant to a consent decree.

4 (C) Whether or not subscribers should be

5 authorized to bring a private cause of action

6 against telecommunications carriers that change

7 subscriber selections of providers of telephone

8 exchange service or telephone toll service in vio9 lation of the procedures prescribed under sec10 tion 258(a) of the Communications Act of 1934

11 and, if so, the advisability of establishing mini12 mum statutory penalties for violations ad13 dressed by such causes of action.

14 (D) Whether or not the fines and penalties

15 imposed by the Commission under section

16 258(c) of the Communications Act of 1934, as

17 so added, are sufficient to deter telecommuni18 cations carriers from changing subscriber selec19 tions of providers of telephone exchange service

20 or telephone toll service in violation of such pro21 cedures.

22 (2) UPDATE.—Not later than one year after the

23 date on which the Commission submits the report

24 required by paragraph (1), and each year thereafter,

25 the Commission shall submit to Congress an update
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1 of the previous report under this subsection which

2 sets forth the information specified in subparagraphs

3 (A) and (B) of that paragraph for one-year period

4 preceding the date of the report concerned.

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