HCS SS SCS SB 613, 1030 & 899 -- TELEPHONE RECORDS

SPONSOR:  Engler (Cooper, 120)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Utilities
by a vote of 10 to 5.

This substitute creates the crime of knowingly receiving,
selling, or obtaining land-line or cellular telephone records
without a customer's consent.  Exemptions include the Department
of Corrections, state agencies with authority to regulate
telecommunications, law enforcement officers performing their
official duties, lawful use of the records in order to provide
service, use of records pursuant to the Victims of Child Abuse
Act of 1990, and the emergency use of records to prevent death or
serious injury.  Customers and telecommunications companies can
recover actual damages, illicit profits, and punitive damages
from persons who violate these provisions.  There is a two-year
statute of limitation on the civil actions, and the substitute
does not create any new cause of action against
telecommunications companies, but does require them to establish
reasonable procedures to guard against the theft of telephone
records.

Subscribers to wireless telephone services may request that their
telephone records not be transmitted to any other party.  Records
will be available to the subscriber by regular mail or an
encrypted and password-protected web site.

The substitute contains an emergency clause.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2007, FY 2008, and
FY 2009.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill is favored by those who
want to expand the no-call list.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Engler; and AARP.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that they object to the
radio tag amendment that was added to the bill and that there
should not be a prohibition on soliciting business-owned cell
phones.

Testifying against the bill were EDS Corporation; and Missouri
Retailers Association.

OTHERS:  Others testifying on the bill say that federal law
currently regulates telephone solicitation for businesses.

Others testifying on the bill was AT&T.

Jason Glahn, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated November 29, 2006 at 9:46 am