Bill Text: NY A02285 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Increases the penalty for any person who violates the provision that a pre-recorded message must disconnect upon the caller hanging up the telephone.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-10 - advanced to third reading cal.434 [A02285 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-A02285-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2285
                              2015-2016 Regular Sessions
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                   January 15, 2015
                                      ___________
       Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
         tee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
       AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to the termination
         of pre-recorded telephone messages
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 399-p of the general business law,
    2  as amended by chapter 176 of the laws of 1998, is  amended  to  read  as
    3  follows:
    4    8. Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an application
    5  may  be  made  by  the attorney general in the name of the people of the
    6  state of New York to a court or justice having jurisdiction to issue  an
    7  injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than five days,
    8  to  enjoin  and  restrain  the continuance of such violations; and if it
    9  shall appear to the satisfaction of  the  court  or  justice,  that  the
   10  defendant  has,  in  fact,  violated  this  section an injunction may be
   11  issued by such court or justice enjoining and  restraining  any  further
   12  violation,  without  requiring  proof that any person has, in fact, been
   13  injured or damaged thereby. In any such proceeding, the court  may  make
   14  allowances  to  the  attorney  general  as  provided in paragraph six of
   15  subdivision (a) of section eighty-three hundred three of the civil prac-
   16  tice law and rules, and direct restitution.  Whenever  the  court  shall
   17  determine  that  a violation of PARAGRAPH (A) OF subdivision three[,] OR
   18  SUBDIVISION four [or five] of this section has occurred, the  court  may
   19  impose  a  civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars per call,
   20  up to a total of not more than twenty thousand dollars, for calls placed
   21  in violation of such subdivisions within a continuous  seventy-two  hour
   22  period.    WHENEVER  THE COURT SHALL DETERMINE THAT A VIOLATION OF PARA-
   23  GRAPH (B) OF SUBDIVISION THREE OR SUBDIVISION FIVE OF THIS  SECTION  HAS
   24  OCCURRED,  THE  COURT MAY IMPOSE A CIVIL PENALTY OF UP TO FIFTY THOUSAND
   25  DOLLARS. Whenever the court shall determine that a violation of subdivi-
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD01432-01-5
       A. 2285                             2
    1  sion six of this section, or a violation of subdivision  six-a  of  this
    2  section,  has occurred, the court may impose a civil penalty of not more
    3  than two thousand dollars. In connection with any such proposed applica-
    4  tion, the attorney general is authorized to take proof and make a deter-
    5  mination of the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with
    6  the civil practice law and rules.
    7    S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.