1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to consumer protection; regulating 
  1.3             telecommunication commerce; appropriating money; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  1.5             609.2336, subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law 
  1.6             in Minnesota Statutes, chapters 171; and 325G. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [171.122] [SALE OF DATA.] 
  1.9      A purchaser of data relating to motor vehicle registrations 
  1.10  or driver's license applications from the department of public 
  1.11  safety must agree not to sell or transfer the data to any third 
  1.12  party.  A purchaser violating this section is prohibited from 
  1.13  purchasing that type of data from the department at any time 
  1.14  after the violation. 
  1.15     Sec. 2.  [325G.52] [NO CALL LIST; DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.16     Subdivision 1.  [SCOPE.] For the purposes of this section, 
  1.17  the terms defined in subdivisions 2 to 6 have the meanings given 
  1.18  them. 
  1.19     Subd. 2.  [TELEPHONE SALES CALL.] "Telephone sales call" 
  1.20  means a call made by a telephone solicitor to a consumer, for 
  1.21  the purpose of soliciting a sale of any consumer goods or 
  1.22  services, soliciting an extension of credit for consumer goods 
  1.23  or services, or obtaining information that will or may be used 
  1.24  for the direct solicitation of a sale of consumer goods or 
  1.25  services or an extension of credit for those purposes. 
  1.26     Subd. 3.  [CONSUMER GOODS OR SERVICES.] "Consumer goods or 
  2.1   services" means real property or tangible or intangible personal 
  2.2   property that is normally used for personal, family, or 
  2.3   household purposes, including, without limitation, property 
  2.4   intended to be attached to or installed in real property without 
  2.5   regard to whether it is so attached or installed, as well as 
  2.6   cemetery lots and timeshare estates, and services related to 
  2.7   that property. 
  2.8      Subd. 4.  [UNSOLICITED TELEPHONIC SALES CALL.] "Unsolicited 
  2.9   telephonic sales call" means a telephonic sales call other than 
  2.10  a call made:  
  2.11     (1) in response to an express request of the person called; 
  2.12     (2) primarily in connection with an existing debt or 
  2.13  contract, payment, or performance of which has not been 
  2.14  completed at the time of the call; 
  2.15     (3) to a person with whom the telephone solicitor has a 
  2.16  prior or existing business relationship; or 
  2.17     (4) by a newspaper publisher or the publisher's agent or 
  2.18  employee in connection with the newspaper business. 
  2.19     Subd. 5.  [TELEPHONE SOLICITOR.] "Telephone solicitor" 
  2.20  means a natural person, firm, organization, partnership, 
  2.21  association, or corporation, or a subsidiary or affiliate, doing 
  2.22  business in this state, who makes or causes to be made a 
  2.23  telephonic sales call, including, but not limited to, calls made 
  2.24  by use of automated dialing or recorded message devices. 
  2.25     Subd. 6.  [CONSUMER.] "Consumer" means an actual or 
  2.26  prospective purchaser, lessee, or recipient of consumer goods or 
  2.27  services. 
  2.28     Subd. 7.  [NO CALL LIST.] A residential, mobile, or 
  2.29  telephonic paging device telephone subscriber desiring to be 
  2.30  placed on a "no sales solicitation calls" listing indicating 
  2.31  that the subscriber does not wish to receive unsolicited 
  2.32  telephonic sales calls may notify the department of commerce and 
  2.33  be placed on that listing upon receipt by the department of a 
  2.34  $10 initial listing charge.  This listing shall be renewed by 
  2.35  the department annually for each consumer upon receipt of a 
  2.36  renewal notice and a $5 assessment. 
  3.1      The department of commerce shall update its "no sales 
  3.2   solicitation calls" listing upon receipt of initial consumer 
  3.3   subscriptions or renewals and provide this listing for a fee 
  3.4   pursuant to section 13.03, subdivision 3, to telephone 
  3.5   solicitors upon request. 
  3.6      No telephone solicitor shall make or cause to be made an 
  3.7   unsolicited telephonic sales call to a residential, mobile, or 
  3.8   telephonic paging device telephone number if the number for that 
  3.9   telephone appears in the current quarterly listing published by 
  3.10  the department.  A telephone solicitor or person who offers for 
  3.11  sale any consumer information which includes residential, 
  3.12  mobile, or telephonic paging device telephone numbers, except 
  3.13  directory assistance and telephone directories sold by telephone 
  3.14  companies and organizations exempt under section 501(c)(3) or 
  3.15  501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, shall screen and exclude 
  3.16  those numbers that appear on the department's current "no sales 
  3.17  solicitation calls" list.  This subdivision does not apply to a 
  3.18  person who calls an actual or prospective seller or lessor of 
  3.19  real property when the call is made in response to a yard sign 
  3.20  or other form of advertisement placed by the seller or lessor. 
  3.21     Subd. 8.  [AUTOMATIC DIALING SYSTEM.] This section does not 
  3.22  prohibit the use of an automated telephone dialing system with 
  3.23  live messages if the calls are made or messages given solely in 
  3.24  response to calls initiated by the persons to whom the automatic 
  3.25  calls or live messages are directed or if the telephone numbers 
  3.26  selected for automatic dialing have been screened to exclude a 
  3.27  telephone subscriber who is included on the department's current 
  3.28  "no sales solicitation calls" listing or any unlisted telephone 
  3.29  number, of if the calls made concern goods or services that have 
  3.30  been previously ordered or purchased. 
  3.31     Subd. 9.  [NOTICE.] Telephone companies must inform their 
  3.32  customers of this section.  The notification may be made by: 
  3.33     (1) annual inserts in the billing statements mailed to 
  3.34  customers; or 
  3.35     (2) conspicuous publication of the notice in the consumer 
  3.36  information pages of the local telephone directories. 
  4.1      Subd. 10.  [VIOLATIONS; PENALTIES.] A person injured by a 
  4.2   violation of this section may bring a civil action to enforce 
  4.3   this section and recover any actual damages, costs, and 
  4.4   disbursements, including reasonable attorney's fees incurred in 
  4.5   the civil action.  In addition to the remedies provided in this 
  4.6   section, the attorney general may bring an action according to 
  4.7   section 8.31 against a person for violation of this section. 
  4.8      Sec. 3.  [325G.53] [CONSUMER EDUCATION; TELEMARKETING 
  4.9   FRAUD.] 
  4.10     Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The attorney general shall 
  4.11  establish an outreach advocacy network to educate citizens of 
  4.12  the state with respect to telemarketing fraud. 
  4.13     Subd. 2.  [DUTIES.] The advocacy network shall: 
  4.14     (1) conduct clinics and seminars throughout the state to 
  4.15  educate consumers with respect to telemarketing fraud, including 
  4.16  providing an explanation of rights under federal and state law, 
  4.17  and recommending effective strategies to combat fraud; 
  4.18     (2) facilitate outreach to groups particularly susceptible 
  4.19  to telemarketing fraud by training advocates for senior citizens 
  4.20  and other consumer groups to conduct clinics and seminars in 
  4.21  their communities; 
  4.22     (3) prepare and publish informational brochures on 
  4.23  telemarketing fraud for distribution to consumers; and 
  4.24     (4) serve as an information clearinghouse within the state 
  4.25  to assist consumers and others to obtain information with 
  4.26  respect to current fraudulent telemarketing activity in the 
  4.27  state. 
  4.28     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
  4.29  609.2336, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.30     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] As used in this section: 
  4.31     (1) "charitable solicitation law violation" means a 
  4.32  violation of sections 309.50 to 309.61; 
  4.33     (2) "consumer fraud law violation" means a violation of 
  4.34  sections 325F.68 to 325F.70 or section 325G.52; 
  4.35     (3) "deceptive trade practices law violation" means a 
  4.36  violation of sections 325D.43 to 325D.48; 
  5.1      (4) "false advertising law violation" means a violation of 
  5.2   section 325F.67; 
  5.3      (5) "handicapped person" means a person who has an 
  5.4   impairment of physical or mental function or emotional status 
  5.5   that substantially limits one or more major life activities; 
  5.6      (6) "major life activities" means functions such as caring 
  5.7   for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, 
  5.8   speaking, breathing, learning, and working; and 
  5.9      (7) "senior citizen" means a person who is 65 years of age 
  5.10  or older. 
  5.11     Sec. 5.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  5.12     $....... is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 
  5.13  1999, to the attorney general from the general fund for the 
  5.14  purpose of section 3. 
  5.15     Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.16     Sections 2 and 4 are effective January 1, 1999, except that 
  5.17  those portions of section 2 relating to the submission of names 
  5.18  for a no call list and the department of commerce's duties with 
  5.19  respect to the no call list directory are effective July 1, 
  5.20  1998.  Sections 3 and 5 are effective July 1, 1998.