Pre-filed December 7, 1999, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 407, RSMo, relating to merchandising practices by adding thereto one new section relating to the same subject, with a penalty provision.
Section A. Chapter 407, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 407.727, to read as follows:
407.727. 1. No person or entity conducting business in this state shall facsimile (fax) or cause to be faxed, or electronically mail (e-mail) or cause to be e-mailed, documents consisting of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer or other disposition of any realty, goods, services or extensions of credit unless:
(1) In the case of a fax, such person or entity establishes a toll-free telephone number that a recipient of the unsolicited faxed documents may call to notify the sender not to fax the recipient any further unsolicited documents; or
(2) In the case of e-mail, such person or entity establishes a toll-free telephone number or valid sender operated return e-mail address that the recipient of the unsolicited documents may call or e-mail to notify the sender not to e-mail any further unsolicited documents.
2. All unsolicited faxed or e-mailed documents subject to this section shall include a statement informing the recipient of the toll-free telephone number that the recipient may call, or a valid return address to which the recipient may write or e-mail, as the case may be, notifying the sender not to fax or e-mail the recipient any further unsolicited documents to the fax number or numbers, or e-mail address or addresses, specified by the recipient. In the case of faxed material, the statement shall be in at least nine-point type. In the case of e-mail, the statement shall be the first text in the body of the message and shall be the same size as the majority of the text of the message.
3. Upon notification by a recipient of his or her request not to receive any further unsolicited faxed or e-mailed documents, no person or entity conducting business in this state shall fax or cause to be faxed, or e-mail or cause to be e-mailed, any unsolicited documents to such recipient.
4. In the case of e-mail, the provisions of this section shall apply when the unsolicited e-mailed documents are delivered to a Missouri resident via an electronic mail service provider's service or equipment located in this state. For purposes of this section, "electronic mail service provider" means any business or organization qualified to do business in this state that provides individuals, corporations or other entities the ability to send or receive electronic mail through equipment located in this state, and that is an intermediary in sending or receiving electronic mail.
5. Any person or entity that violates subsection 3 or 4 of this section shall be subject to a fine of five hundred dollars for each and every transmission.
6. As used in this section, "unsolicited e-mailed documents" means any e-mailed document or documents consisting of advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer or other disposition of any realty, goods, services or extension of credit that meet the following requirements:
(1) The documents are addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship; and
(2) The documents are not sent at the request of, or with the express consent of, the recipient.
7. As used in this section, "fax" or "cause to be faxed" or "e-mail" or "cause to be e-mailed" does not include or refer to the transmission of any documents by a telecommunications utility or Internet service provider to the extent that the telecommunications utility or Internet service provider merely carries such transmission over its network.
8. In the case of e-mail that consists of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer or other disposition of any realty, goods, services or extension of credit, the subject line of each and every message shall include "ADV:" as the first four characters. If such messages contain information that consists of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer or other disposition of any realty, goods, services or extension of credit that may only be viewed, purchased, rented, leased or held in possession by an individual eighteen years of age or older, the subject line of each and every message shall include "ADV:ADLT" as the first eight characters.
9. An employer who is the registered owner of more than one e-mail address may notify the person or entity conducting business in this state e-mailing or causing to be e-mailed, documents consisting of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer or other disposition of any realty, goods, services or extension of credit of the desire to cease e-mailing on behalf of all of the employees who may use employer-provided and employer-controlled e-mail addresses.
10. This section, or any part of this section, shall become inoperative on and after the date that federal law is
enacted that prohibits or otherwise regulates the transmission of unsolicited advertising by electronic e-mail.