after discovery of the violation, bring a civil action in an
appropriate district court of the United States against a
person who has engaged or is engaging in such pattern
or practice of telemarketing if the amount in controversy
exceeds the sum or value of $50,000 in actual damages
for each person adversely affected by such telemarketing.
Such an action may be brought to enjoin such
telemarketing, to enforce compliance with any rule of the
Commission under section 3, to obtain damages, or to ob-
tain such further and other relief as the court may deem
appropriate.
(b) NOTICE.—The plaintiff shall serve prior written
notice of the action upon the Commission and provide the
Commission with a copy of its complaint, except in any
case where such prior notice is not feasible, in which case
the person shall serve such notice immediately upon insti-
tuting such action. The Commission shall have the right
(A) to intervene in the action, (B) upon so intervening,
to be heard on all matters arising therein, and (C) to file
petitions for appeal.
(c) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—Whenever the
Commission has instituted a civil action for violation of
any rule prescribed under section 3, no person may, dur-
ing the pendency of such action instituted by the Commis-
sion, subsequently institute a civil action against any de-
fendant named in the Commission’s complaint for viola-
tion of any rule as alleged in the Commission’s complaint.
(d) COSTS AND FEES.—The court, in issuing any
final order in any action brought under subsection (a),
may award costs of suit and reasonable fees for attorneys
and expert witnesses to the prevailing party.
(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall re-
strict any right which any person may have under any
statute or common law.
SEC. 6. CLEARINGHOUSE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish a
clearinghouse for inquiries made to Federal agencies con-
cerning telemarketing. The clearinghouse will provide in-
formation (other than information which may not be dis-
closed under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code,
or under regulations prescribed by the Commission to im-
plement such section) to anyone making inquiries respect-
ing persons engaged in telemarketing or direct such in-
quiries to the appropriate Federal or State agency.
(b) LIABILITY FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION.—No
person who provides information to the clearinghouse es-
tablished under subsection (a) shall be liable for damages
for the provision of such information unless such person
provided such information knowing it to be false.
SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICABILITY OF ACT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in
sections 4 and 5, this Act shall be enforced by the Com-
mission under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 41 et seq.). Consequently, no activity which is out-
side the jurisdiction of that Act shall be affected by this
Act.
(b) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—The Commis-
sion shall prevent any person from violating a rule of the
Commission under section 3 in the same manner, by the
same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and
duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.)
were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any
person who violates such rule shall be subject to the pen-
alties and entitled to the privileges and immunities pro-
vided in the Federal Trade Commission Act in the same
manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdic-
tion, power, and duties as though all applicable terms and
provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were in-
corporated into and made a part of this Act.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘attorney general’’ means the
chief legal officer of a State.
(2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(3) The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any terri-
tory or possession of the United States.
(4) The term ‘‘telemarketing’’ means a plan,
program, or campaign which is conducted to induce
purchases of goods or services by significant use of
one or more telephones and which involves more
than one interstate telephone call. The term does not
include the solicitation of sales through the mailing
of a catalog which—
(A) contains a written description or illus-
tration of the goods or services offered for sale,
(B) includes the business address of the
seller,
(C) includes multiple pages of written ma-
terial or illustrations, and
(D) has been issued not less frequently
than once a year,
where the person making the solicitation does not
solicit customers by telephone but only receives calls
initiated by customers in response to the catalog and
during those calls takes orders only without further
solicitation.
SEC. 9. REVIEW.
Upon the expiration of 5 years following the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission
shall review the implementation of this Act and its effect
on deceptive telemarketing activities and report the results
of the review to the Congress.