The purpose of this update is to remind common carriers of two new FCC notification requirements that became effective Jan. 1, 2004. The FCC imposed these requirements in conjunction with its national do-not-call registry, most of which took effect Oct. 1, 2003 (see advisory dated Sept. 30, 2003, for an overview of FCC’s do-not-call rules).
First, common carriers that provide telephone exchange service must provide an annual notice, inserted in customers’ bills, “to inform their subscribers of the opportunity to register or revoke registrations on the national do-not-call database.” This notice must, at a minimum, provide subscribers with the FTC’s toll-free telephone number, 888-382-1222, for registering and revoking registration and also the website address, www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx where customers can register online. The FCC has not otherwise mandated any specific format for this annual notice, requiring only that it be “clear and conspicuous.”
Second, common carriers must provide a one-time notice that explains the federal do-not- call requirements to their customers that are “telephone solicitors”1. The FCC recognizes that it may not be possible for a common carrier to identify every entity or person served by it who is conducting “telephone solicitations,” nonetheless, common carriers must “make reasonable efforts to comply with this requirement.” Although the FCC has not specified the exact format for the notice, the notice must, at a minimum, include a citation to both the FCC and FTC’s federal do-not-call regulations, which are codified at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 and 16 C.F.R. Part 310, respectively.
If you have any questions about these two new notice requirements, or need assistance in preparing these notices, please contact us.
Footnotes:
1 A telephone solicitor is an entity engaged in “telephone solicitations.” Under the FCC rules, a “telephone solicitation” is “the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, which is transmitted to any person, but such term does not include a call or message: (i) to any person with that person’s prior express invitation or permission; (ii) to any person with whom the caller has an established business relationship; or (iii) by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit
organization.