110TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 781

AN ACT

To extend the authority of the Federal Trade Commission

to collect Do-Not-Call Registry fees to fiscal years after

fiscal year 2007.

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 ‘‘Do-Not-Call Registry

5 Fee Extension Act of 2007’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FEES FOR ACCESS TO REGISTRY.

2 Section 2, of the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act

3 (15 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 2. TELEMARKETING SALES RULE; DO-NOT-CALL REG5 ISTRY FEES.

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commission

7 shall assess and collect an annual fee pursuant to this sec8 tion in order to implement and enforce the ‘do-not-call’

9 registry as provided for in section 310.4(b)(1)(iii) of title

10 16, Code of Federal Regulations, or any other regulation

11 issued by the Commission under section 3 of the Tele12 marketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention

13 Act (15 U.S.C. 6102).

14 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL FEES.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

16 charge each person who accesses the ‘do-not-call’

17 registry an annual fee that is equal to the lesser

18 of—

19 ‘‘(A) $54 for each area code of data

20 accessed from the registry; or

21 ‘‘(B) $14,850 for access to every area code

22 of data contained in the registry.

23 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Commission shall not

24 charge a fee to any person—

25 ‘‘(A) for accessing the first 5 area codes of

26 data; or
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1 ‘‘(B) for accessing area codes of data in

2 the registry if the person is permitted to access,

3 but is not required to access, the ‘do-not-call’

4 registry under section 310 of title 16, Code of

5 Federal Regulations, section 64.1200 of title

6 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any other

7 Federal regulation or law.

8 ‘‘(3) DURATION OF ACCESS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

10 allow each person who pays the annual fee de11 scribed in paragraph (1), each person excepted

12 under paragraph (2) from paying the annual

13 fee, and each person excepted from paying an

14 annual fee under section 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B) of

15 title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, to access

16 the area codes of data in the ‘do-not-call’ reg17 istry for which the person has paid during that

18 person’s annual period.

19 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL PERIOD.—In this para20 graph, the term ‘annual period’ means the 12-

21 month period beginning on the first day of the

22 month in which a person pays the fee described

23 in paragraph (1).

24 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL FEES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

2 charge a person required to pay an annual fee under

3 subsection (b) an additional fee for each additional

4 area code of data the person wishes to access during

5 that person’s annual period.

6 ‘‘(2) RATES.—For each additional area code of

7 data to be accessed during the person’s annual pe8 riod, the Commission shall charge—

9 ‘‘(A) $54 for access to such data if access

10 to the area code of data is first requested dur11 ing the first 6 months of the person’s annual

12 period; or

13 ‘‘(B) $27 for access to such data if access

14 to the area code of data is first requested after

15 the first 6 months of the person’s annual pe16 riod.

17 ‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENT OF FEES.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

19 ‘‘(A) FISCAL YEAR 2009.—The dollar

20 amount described in subsection (b) or (c) is the

21 amount to be charged for fiscal year 2009.

22 ‘‘(B) FISCAL YEARS AFTER 2009.—For

23 each fiscal year beginning after fiscal year

24 2009, each dollar amount in subsection (b)(1)
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1 and (c)(2) shall be increased by an amount

2 equal to—

3 ‘‘(i) the dollar amount in paragraph

4 (b)(1) or (c)(2), whichever is applicable,

5 multiplied by

6 ‘‘(ii) the percentage (if any) by which

7 the CPI for the most recently ended 12-

8 month period ending on June 30 exceeds

9 the baseline CPI.

10 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—Any increase under subpara11 graph (B) shall be rounded to the nearest dollar.

12 ‘‘(3) CHANGES LESS THAN 1 PERCENT.—The

13 Commission shall not adjust the fees under this sec14 tion if the change in the CPI is less than 1 percent.

15 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—Not later than September

16 1 of each year the Commission shall publish in the

17 Federal Register the adjustments to the applicable

18 fees, if any, made under this subsection.

19 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

20 ‘‘(A) CPI.—The term ‘CPI’ means the av21 erage of the monthly consumer price index (for

22 all urban consumers published by the Depart23 ment of Labor).
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1 ‘‘(B) BASELINE CPI.—The term ‘baseline

2 CPI’ means the CPI for the 12-month period

3 ending June 30, 2008.

4 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION AGAINST FEE SHARING.—No per5 son may enter into or participate in an arrangement (as

6 such term is used in section 310.8(c) of the Commission’s

7 regulations (16 C.F.R. 310.8(c))) to share any fee re8 quired by subsection (b) or (c), including any arrangement

9 to divide the costs to access the registry among various

10 clients of a telemarketer or service provider.

11 ‘‘(f) HANDLING OF FEES.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The commission shall de13 posit and credit as offsetting collections any fee col14 lected under this section in the account ‘Federal

15 Trade Commission—Salaries and Expenses’, and

16 such sums shall remain available until expended.

17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—No amount shall be col18 lected as a fee under this section for any fiscal year

19 except to the extent provided in advance by appro20 priations Acts.’’.

21 SEC. 3. REPORT.

22 Section 4 of the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act (15

23 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

2 ‘‘(a) BIENNIAL REPORTS.—Not later than December

3 31, 2009, and biennially thereafter, the Federal Trade

4 Commission, in consultation with the Federal Communica5 tions Commission, shall transmit a report to the Senate

6 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

7 and the House of Representatives Committee on Energy

8 and Commerce that includes—

9 ‘‘(1) the number of consumers who have placed

10 their telephone numbers on the registry;

11 ‘‘(2) the number of persons paying fees for ac12 cess to the registry and the amount of such fees;

13 ‘‘(3) the impact on the ‘do-not-call’ registry

14 of—

15 ‘‘(A) the 5-year reregistration requirement;

16 ‘‘(B) new telecommunications technology;

17 and

18 ‘‘(C) number portability and abandoned

19 telephone numbers; and

20 ‘‘(4) the impact of the established business rela21 tionship exception on businesses and consumers.

22 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REPORT.—Not later than Decem23 ber 31, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission, in consulta24 tion with the Federal Communications Commission, shall

25 transmit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce,

26 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent-
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1 atives Committee on Energy and Commerce that

2 includes—

3 ‘‘(1) the effectiveness of do-not-call outreach

4 and enforcement efforts with regard to senior citi5 zens and immigrant communities;

6 ‘‘(2) the impact of the exceptions to the do-not7 call registry on businesses and consumers, including

8 an analysis of the effectiveness of the registry and

9 consumer perceptions of the registry’s effectiveness;

10 and

11 ‘‘(3) the impact of abandoned calls made by

12 predictive dialing devices on do-not-call

13 enforcment.’’.

14 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING.

15 The Federal Trade Commission may issue rules, in

16 accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code,

17 as necessary and appropriate to carry out the amendments

18 to the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act (15 U.S.C. 6101

19 note) made by this Act.

Passed the Senate December 17, 2007.

Attest:

Secretary.
110TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 781

AN ACT

To extend the authority of the Federal Trade Comfiscal years after fiscal year 2007. mission to collect Do-Not-Call Registry fees to