HB 346 -- Unlawful Merchandising Practices

Sponsor:  Schieffer

This bill prohibits an individual or business organization from
misrepresenting the geographic location of the service or product
supplier by using a fictitious or an assumed business name in a
local telephone directory or in a directory assistance database.
Misrepresentation occurs if the name misrepresents the location
of the supplier of the goods or service, the listing fails to
identify the address and state of the supplier, calls to the
local number are routinely forwarded to a location outside the
scope of the local telephone directory, or the business location
of the supplier is not in a county bordering a county that is
part of the local telephone directory calling area.  Any person
violating these provisions will be guilty of a class D felony.

Telephone companies and telephone directory publishers or their
officers and agents are immune from liability for publishing the
listing of a fictitious or assumed business name unless they were
the persons who committed the deceptive practice.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated November 17, 2009 at 9:24 am