PRINTER'S NO. 4137
No. 2958 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY PIPPY, FARGO, SAYLOR, READSHAW, STEVENSON,
FICHTER, TIGUE AND FLICK, NOVEMBER 17, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, NOVEMBER 17, 1998
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 66 (Public Utilities) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, further providing for the
3 dissemination of telephone numbers and other identifying
4 information.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Section 2906 of Title 66 of the Pennsylvania
8 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
9 § 2906. Dissemination of telephone numbers and other
10 identifying information.
11 (a) General rule.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
12 law, but subject to the provisions of this title, any telephone
13 call identification service offered in this Commonwealth by a
14 public utility or by any other person, partnership, association
15 or corporation that makes use of the facilities of a public
16 utility shall be lawful if it allows a caller to withhold
17 display of the caller's telephone number and other identifying
18 information on both a per-call and per-line basis from the
1 telephone instrument of the individual receiving the telephone
2 call.
3 (b) Charge prohibited.--There shall be no charge to the
4 caller who requests that the caller's telephone number and other
5 identifying information be withheld on a per-call basis. [The]
6 Except as provided in subsection (b.1), the commission may
7 approve a charge to the caller who requests that the caller's
8 telephone number and other identifying information be withheld
9 on a per-line basis if the commission finds, after notice to all
10 customers and an opportunity for hearing, that the charge is
11 just and reasonable and that the charge should be imposed on the
12 caller. Tariff rates shall not apply to victims of domestic
13 violence receiving services from a domestic violence program or
14 protected by a court order nor to social welfare agencies, such
15 as women's shelters, health and counseling centers, public
16 service hotlines and their staffs. In addition, the commission
17 shall direct that the tariff rates shall not apply to customers
18 who order the per-line blocking service within 60 days of its
19 introduction or within 60 days of any request for new telephone
20 service or transfer of existing telephone service. The
21 commission shall also direct that, as soon as practicable, any
22 public utility or any other person, partnership, association or
23 corporation that makes use of the facilities of a public utility
24 which provides this service shall also provide to the calling
25 party only the ability to selectively unblock at no charge on a
26 per-call basis a blocked line using a means which differs from
27 the means to activate per-call blocking. The commission, in the
28 interest of balancing respective privacy interests, shall also
29 permit a tariffed service that automatically prevents the
30 completion of telephone calls to customers who do not wish to
19980H2958B4137 - 2 -
1 receive calls from callers that withhold their telephone number
2 or other identifying information; the terms and conditions of
3 such a tariff shall be subject to commission approval.
4 (b.1) Solicitation phone calls.--No telephone solicitor or
5 person who places any consumer telephone call or who operates an
6 automatic dialing-announcing device and no employer of any such
7 telephone solicitor or person shall intentionally cause to be
8 installed, or shall intentionally utilize, any blocking device
9 or service to prevent the name or telephone number of such
10 solicitor or person, or the name or telephone number of his or
11 her employer, from being displayed on a caller identification
12 device of the recipient of any such consumer telephone call.
13 Each call in violation of this subsection constitutes a separate
14 offense. The commission may impose a civil penalty for each
15 violation in an amount not to exceed $2,500.
16 (c) Notice.--A public utility offering a call identification
17 service shall notify its subscribers that their calls may be
18 identified to a called party at least 60 days before the service
19 is offered and shall clearly advise its subscribers of their
20 ability to withhold their telephone number and other identifying
21 information on both a per-call and a per-line basis. The form of
22 the required notices must be approved by the commission.
23 (d) Exceptions.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
24 but subject to the provisions of this title, provision of any of
25 the following caller identification services shall be lawful
26 even if the caller cannot withhold display of the caller's
27 telephone number and other identifying information from the
28 instrument of the individual receiving the telephone call:
29 (1) An identification service which is used within the
30 same limited system, including a Centrex or private branch
19980H2958B4137 - 3 -
1 exchange (PBX) system, as the recipient telephone.
2 (2) An identification service which is used on a public
3 agency's emergency telephone line or on the line which
4 receives the primary emergency telephone number 911.
5 (3) An identification service provided in connection
6 with any "800" or "900" access code telephone service until
7 the public utility develops the technical capability to
8 comply with subsection (a), as determined by the commission.
9 Until such capability is developed, telephone subscribers
10 shall be notified annually by the public utility that use of
11 an "800" or "900" number may result in the disclosure of the
12 subscriber's telephone number or other identifying
13 information to the called party.
14 (4) An identification service for which the
15 identification information is a necessary component of the
16 communication being conveyed and for which, without such
17 information, the called party would not reasonably be able to
18 act upon or otherwise use the other portions of the
19 communication. This exception is intended to cover services,
20 such as health alert, home monitoring and other similar
21 telemetry services.
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
J16L66JLW/19980H2958B4137 - 4 -