US Congress Senate Bill 1144 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3)
Status: Introduced on June 12 2013 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2013-06-12 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4408-4409)
Pending: Senate Commerce, Science, And Transportation Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Fair Telephone Billing Act of 2013 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit local exchange carriers or providers of interconnected VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service from placing, or causing to be placed, a third-party charge that is not directly related to the provision of telephone services on the bill of a customer, unless: (1) the third-party charge is from a contracted third-party vendor and for a product or service that the carrier or provider markets or sells jointly with its own service, (2) the customer provided affirmative consent for the charge, (3) the customer was provided with a disclosure of material terms and conditions prior to such consent, and (4) the charge is implemented with reasonable procedures to ensure that the customer has requested the product or service. Defines: (1) a "third-party charge" as a charge for a product or service not provided by a local exchange carrier or a provider of interconnected VoIP service, and (2) a "contracted third-party vendor" as a person with a contractual right to receive billing and collection services from such a carrier or provider for a product or service the person provides directly to a customer. Subjects violators to civil forfeiture and specified penalties and refund requirements. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate rules to: (1) define how local exchange carriers and providers of interconnected VoIP service will obtain affirmative consent from a consumer for a third-party charge, (2) ensure that consumers are fully aware of the charges to which they are consenting, and (3) impose recordkeeping requirements on such carriers and providers related to any grants of affirmative consent by consumers.

Fair Telephone Billing Act of 2013

Sen. John Rockefeller [D-WV]

Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]

Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]

Date	Chamber	Action
2013-06-12	Senate	Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4408-4409)
2013-06-12	Senate	Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4407-4408)

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1144/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/113/bills/s1144/BILLS-113s1144is.pdf