‘‘(4) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.—Any civil
action brought under this subsection in a district
court of the United States may be brought in the
district wherein the defendant is found or is an in-
habitant or transacts business or wherein the viola-
tion occurred or is occurring, and process in such
cases may be served in any district in which the de-
fendant is an inhabitant or where the defendant may
be found.
‘‘(5) INVESTIGATORY
POWERS.—For purposes
of bringing any civil action under this subsection,
nothing in this section shall prevent the attorney
general of a State, or an official or agency des-
ignated by a State, from exercising the powers con-
ferred on the attorney general or such official by the
laws of such State to conduct investigations or to
administer oaths or affirmations or to compel the
attendance of witnesses or the production of docu-
mentary and other evidence.
‘‘(6) EFFECT
ON
STATE
COURT
PROCEED-
INGS.—Nothing contained in this subsection shall be
construed to prohibit an authorized State official
from proceeding in State court on the basis of an al-
leged violation of any general civil or criminal stat-
ute of such State.
‘‘(7) LIMITATION.—Whenever the Commission
has instituted a civil action for violation of regula-
tions prescribed under this section, no State may,
during the pendency of such action instituted by the
Commission, subsequently institute a civil action
against any defendant named in the Commission’s
complaint for any violation as alleged in the Com-
mission’s complaint.
‘‘(8) DEFINITION.—As used in this subsection,
the term ‘attorney general’ means the chief legal of-
ficer of a State.
‘‘(i) STATE LAW NOT PREEMPTED.—Nothing in this
section or in the regulations prescribed under this section
shall preempt any State law that imposes more restrictive
intrastate requirements or regulations on, or which pro-
hibits unauthorized changes in, a subscriber’s selection of
a provider of telephone exchange service or telephone toll
service.’’.
(d) REPORT ON CARRIERS EXECUTING UNAUTHOR-
IZED CHANGES OF TELEPHONE SERVICE.—
(1) REPORT.—Not later than October 31,
1998, the Federal Communications Commission
shall submit to Congress a report on unauthorized
changes of subscribers’ selections of providers of
telephone exchange service or telephone toll service.
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report shall include the
following:
(A) A list of the 10 telecommunications
carriers that, during the 1-year period ending
on the date of the report, were subject to the
highest number of complaints of having exe-
cuted unauthorized changes of subscribers from
their selected providers of telephone exchange
service or telephone toll service when compared
with the total number of subscribers served by
such carriers.
(B) The telecommunications carriers, if
any, assessed fines under section 258(e) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (as added by sub-
section (c)), during that period, including the
amount of each such fine and whether the fine
was assessed as a result of a court judgment or
an order of the Commission or was secured pur-
suant to a consent decree.
SEC. 2. REPORT ON TELEMARKETING PRACTICES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Communications
Commission shall issue a report within 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act on the telemarketing prac-
tices used by telecommunications carriers or resellers or
their agents or employees for the purpose of soliciting
changes by subscribers of their telephone exchange service
or telephone toll service provider.
(b) SPECIFIC ISSUES.—As part of the report required
under subsection (a), the Commission shall include find-
ings on—
(1) the extent to which imposing penalties on
telemarketers would deter unauthorized changes in a
subscriber’s selection of a provider of telephone ex-
change service or telephone toll service;
(2) the need for rules requiring third-party ver-
ification of changes in a subscriber’s selection of
such a provider; and
(3) whether wireless carriers should continue to
be exempt from the verification and retention re-
quirements imposed by section 258(a)(2)(B)(iii) of
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
258(a)(2)(B)(iii)).
(c) RULEMAKING.—If the Commission determines
that particular telemarketing practices are being used with
the intention to mislead, deceive, or confuse subscribers
and that they are likely to mislead, deceive, or confuse
subscribers, then the Commission shall initiate a rule-
making to prohibit the use of such practices within 120
days after the completion of its report.
Æ