An Act To Create Consistency between State and Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1751
Committee: Utilities and Energy
Sponsors: BLISS, HALL, CUMMINGS, MARLEY, THOMPSON
Amends: 35-A MRSA §7106

Legislative Document 
No. 1751 
H.P.1273 
House of Representatives, December 22,2003 
An Act To Create Consistency between State and Federal Telephone 
Consumer Protection Laws 
Submitted by the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 17, 2003. Referred to the Committee on 
Utilities and Energy pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 
401. 
Presented by Representative BLISS of South Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator HALL of Lincoln and 
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1J7.7JJdC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: CUMMINGS of Portland, MARLEY of Portland, THOMPSON of China. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. I. 35-A MRSA §7106, sub-§I, 1[A, as amended by PL 2001, c. 
71, §2, is further amended to read: 
A. 
Notwithstanding Title 32, chapter 69, subchapter V ~ or 
Title 32, section 499~-Ar-S~Bsee~i~R-4 14716, and except as 
otherwise 
provided 
by 
the 
commission 
by 
rule 
adopted 
pursuant 
to 
subsection 
3, 
a 
local 
or 
intrastate 
interexchange carrier may 
not initiate the 
change of 
a 
customer's local or intrastate carrier unless the change is 
verified by one of the following methods: 
(1 ) 
Written or electronically signed 
authorization 
from the customer; 
(2) 
Toll-free electronic authorization placed from 
the telephone number that is the subject of the change 
order; or 
(3) 
Oral authorization obtained by an independent 3rd 
party. 
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §7106, sub-§I, 1[B, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
702, §1, is amended to read: 
B. 
When a customer's service is changed to a new local or 
intrastate 
interexchange 
carrier, 
the 
new 
local 
or 
intrastate interexchange carrier shall maintain for 16 24 
months a record of nonpublic customer-specific information 
that establishes t:hat the customer authorized the change. 
Sec. 3. 35-A MRSA §7106, sub-§I, 1[C, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
702, §1, is repealed. 
Sec. 4. 35-A MRSA §7106, sub-§3, 1[A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
702, §1, is amended to read: 
A. 
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, rules 
adopted by the commission under this subsection, including 
rules 
regarding 
customer 
verification 
of 
a 
change 
of 
carrier, must be consistent with the rules adopted by the 
Federal Communications Commission governing the initiation 
of a change of a customer's interstate carrierr-eHeept-~hat 
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SUMMARY 
This 
bill 
amends 
the 
provisions 
of 
the 
Maine 
Revised 
Statutes, Title 35-A that protect consumers from the unauthorized 
initiation of service by 
a 
local or intrastate interexchange 
carrier. 
The bill revises the reference to Title 32, section 
4690-A to reflect a change to that section enacted by Public Law 
2001, 
chapter 324; 
allows electronic authorization of service 
ini tiation, 
to 
be 
consistent 
with 
federal 
rules; 
requires 
carriers to retain records for 24 months, to be consistent with 
federal rules; removes a requirement of interexchange carriers 
that refers to a 
function that interexchange carriers do not 
carry out; 
and removes reference to a federal rule that was 
repealed in 1999.