To enact sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code to establish certain restrictions regarding telephone solicitations, to require the Attorney General to provide for a do-not-call registry of residential telephone numbers, and to provide certain remedies and penalties for violations.

Section 1. That sections 4719.25, 4719.26, 4719.27, 4719.28, 4719.29, 4719.30, 4719.31, 4719.32, 4719.33, 4719.34, 4719.35, 4719.36, 4719.37, and 4719.38 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 4719.25. As used in sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Affiliate" means a business entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another business entity.

(B) "Established business relationship" means a relationship between the entity on whose behalf a telephone solicitation is made and a called party based on any of the following:

(1) The called party's purchase, rental, or lease of goods or services from the entity. For purposes of sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code, such relationship shall terminate as specified below:

(a) In the case of a purchase, rental, or lease for which the called party does not obtain financing, either eighteen months after the date on which the purchase, rental, or lease agreement is executed or on the date on which the called party is no longer obligated under the agreement, whichever is later.

(b) In the case of a purchase, rental, or lease for which the called party obtains financing, either eighteen months after the date on which the finance agreement is executed or on the date on which the called party is no longer obligated under the finance agreement, whichever is later.

(2) A financial transaction between the called party and the entity. For purposes of sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code, such relationship shall terminate eighteen months after the date on which the financial transaction is executed.

(3) The called party's inquiry or application regarding a product or service offered by the entity, within the three months immediately preceding the date of the telephone solicitation.

(C) "Person" means an individual, group, or unincorporated association, or any limited or general partnership, corporation, or other business entity.

(D) "Representative" means an individual who is employed, appointed, or authorized by a telephone solicitor to make telephone solicitations.

(E) "Telephone solicitation" means a communication to a person that is initiated by or on behalf of a telephone solicitor or a representative and either represents a price, quality, or availability of goods or services or is used to induce the person to purchase goods or services, including, but not limited to, inducement through the offering of a gift, award, or prize.

(F) "Telephone solicitor" means a person that engages in telephone solicitation directly or through one or more representatives either from a location in this state or from a location outside this state to persons in this state.

(G) "Unsolicited telephone solicitation" means a telephone solicitation other than one that is made in connection with an established business relationship with the called party, but includes any telephone solicitation made on behalf of an entity to a called party that has, or has requested to have, its telephone number included on a do-not-call list maintained under section 4719.27 of the Revised Code for that entity.

Sec. 4719.26. (A) No telephone solicitor or representative shall make or cause to be made an unsolicited telephone solicitation to a telephone number more than ninety days after the date that the number appears on the most current version of a do-not-call registry provided for pursuant to division (A) or (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code. This division does not apply to an unsolicited telephone solicitation that is made by or on behalf of an organization that is granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) or (19) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 26 U.S.C. 501, as amended, and is not an affiliate of an entity that is operated for profit.

(B) No telephone solicitor or representative shall make or cause to be made a telephone solicitation to any residential telephone service subscriber in this state other than between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time at the subscriber's location.

(C) With respect to an outbound telephone solicitation, no telephone solicitor or representative shall abandon the call by failing to connect the call to a live person within two seconds after the completed greeting by the party answering the call, unless the telephone solicitor or representative meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The telephone solicitor or representative uses technology that ensures abandonment of not more than five per cent of all answered calls, measured per day per calling campaign. The attorney general, by rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code, shall adjust this percentage of answered calls a telephone solicitor or representative may abandon so that the percentage is consistent with any applicable federal regulation.

(2) For each call placed, the telephone solicitor or representative allows the telephone to ring for at least fifteen seconds or four rings before disconnecting an unanswered call.

(3) If a live person is not available to speak with the party answering the call within two seconds after that party's completed greeting, the telephone solicitor or representative promptly plays a recorded message that states the name and telephone number of the entity on whose behalf the call was placed. The telephone number shall not be a "900" number or any other number for which charges exceed normal local or normal long-distance charges.

(4) The telephone solicitor or representative retains records establishing compliance with section 4719.27 of the Revised Code.

(D) No telephone solicitor or representative, in connection with a telephone solicitation, shall fail to promptly do all of the following before requesting any financial information or conveying to the party answering the call any substantive information about a prize, good, or service:

(1) State the telephone solicitor's or representative's true name, or a fictitious name if the fictitious name is provided to the entity on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is made. The entity shall maintain a record of any fictitious name provided under this division for a period of time the attorney general shall prescribe in rules adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code.

(2) State the name of the entity on whose behalf the solicitation is being made;

(3) State that the purpose of the call is to effect a sale;

(4) Identify any good or service being sold.

(E) The entity on whose behalf a telephone solicitation is made is also liable for any violation of division (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this section.

Sec. 4719.27. (A)(1) No telephone solicitor or representative shall fail to maintain or cause to be maintained a do-not-call list of the telephone numbers of all residential telephone service subscribers who have requested of the telephone solicitor or representative that they not receive telephone solicitations on behalf of a particular entity for which the telephone solicitor or representative has made telephone solicitations. No telephone solicitor or representative shall fail to record the request and place the telephone number on the list at the time the request is made.

(2) For ten years after the date of a request under division (A) of this section, no telephone solicitor or representative shall make or cause to be made a telephone solicitation, to a telephone number on a list required by division (A) of this section, on behalf of the particular entity for which that list is maintained.

(3) For any telephone solicitation made using a prerecorded or artificial message player, no telephone solicitor or representative shall fail to include or fail to cause to be included a toll-free telephone number that a called party may call to request that the called party's telephone number be included on the do-not-call list required by this section.

(4) Nothing in division (A)(1), (2), or (3) of this section applies with respect to telephone calls made necessary by an emergency affecting public health or safety.

(B) Regardless of who maintains the do-not-call list required by division (A)(1) of this section, the entity on whose behalf a telephone solicitation is made is also liable for any violation of division (A)(1), (2), or (3) of this section.

Sec. 4719.28. The attorney general shall provide for a do-not-call registry for the benefit of residential telephone service subscribers in this state, by doing either of the following at the attorney general's discretion and with reasonable public notice:

(A) In lieu of providing for a registry under division (B) of this section, accepting for the purpose of this section any national do-not-call-type registry established and maintained by a federal agency, including, but not limited to, a registry maintained pursuant to 16 C.F.R. 310. Beginning on the effective date of that acceptance, sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code, and all the duties, authority, remedies, and penalties provided in those sections, apply with respect to a registry under this division. The registration of telephone numbers and purging of registered telephone numbers shall occur as provided in the applicable federal law.

(B) Beginning on January 1, 2004, developing and thereafter operating and maintaining, including by contract awarded pursuant to section 125.11 of the Revised Code, a do-not-call registry in accordance with section 4719.29 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4719.29. (A) The do-not-call registry authorized under division (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code shall be in a secured electronic data base consisting only of residential telephone numbers, including wireline telephone service numbers, facsimile machine numbers, and wireless telephone service numbers. Only the numbers of those residential telephone service subscribers that have requested inclusion on the registry in accordance with procedures prescribed by rules adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code shall be included on it. Those procedures shall provide that a request may be made by mail or through the internet or a toll-free telephone number. The registry also shall be made available in printed form.

(B) The registry developed, operated, and maintained under division (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code shall be made available to any person upon request pursuant to procedures prescribed by rules adopted pursuant to section 4719.32 of the Revised Code, which procedures shall require payment of a reasonable distribution fee, specified in the rules, in order to obtain a copy of or access to the registry. The rules also shall provide that a residential telephone service subscriber who requests to have its residential telephone number or numbers included on the registry shall pay no fee or charge for any such listing or subsequent removal. The telephone number shall remain on the registry for such period of time and subject to such procedures for removal as are specified in the rules.

(C) All fees authorized under division (B) of this section shall be paid to the attorney general and deposited to the credit of the do-not-call registry fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury, to be used to pay the costs of developing, operating, and maintaining the registry authorized under division (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code, including any costs arising under a contract authorized by that division.

(D) The do-not-call registry developed, operated, and maintained pursuant to division (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code, and any information received or maintained for the purpose of the registry by the attorney general or any contractor in connection with a telephone number or subscriber, is not a public record for purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4719.30. (A)(1) No person shall possess, disclose, or use, including for the purpose of selling, renting, or leasing, a do-not-call registry provided for under division (A) or (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code, a do-not-call list under section 4719.27 of the Revised Code, or any information received or maintained in connection with a telephone number on the registry or list or with the associated subscriber, for any purpose other than complying with sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code and applicable federal law or with a lawful court order or subpoena directing disclosure or use.

(2) Notwithstanding division (A)(1) of this section, a telephone solicitor or representative may do either of the following:

(a) Disclose or forward to or share with the entity on whose behalf it makes telephone solicitations any information received or maintained in connection with a telephone number on a list it maintains for that entity under section 4719.27 of the Revised Code or with the associated subscriber;

(b) Disclose or forward such information to, or share it with, any other entity, provided that the telephone solicitor or representative first obtains the express written or recorded consent of the subscriber. No telephone solicitor or representative shall fail to retain that consent for a minimum of one year after the date the subscriber's information was last shared pursuant to the consent.

(B)(1) Division (A) of this section does not apply to the possession, disclosure, or use by the attorney general, or any employee of the office of the attorney general in the course of that employment, of a do-not-call registry provided for under division (A) or (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code, a do-not-call list under section 4719.27 of the Revised Code, or any information received or maintained in connection with a telephone number on the registry or list or with the associated subscriber, if the purpose of such possession, disclosure, or use is to develop, operate, or maintain the registry; enforce sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code; pursue an action under section 4719.34 of the Revised Code; or comply with a lawful court order or subpoena directing disclosure or use.

(2) Division (A) of this section does not apply to the possession, disclosure, or use by a contractor under division (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code, or any agent or employee of the contractor in the course of that agency or employment, of a do-not-call registry provided for under division (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code or any information received or maintained in connection with a telephone number on the registry or with the associated subscriber, if the purpose of such possession, disclosure, or use is to develop, operate, or maintain the registry; assist the attorney general in the enforcement of sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code; assist the attorney general in the pursuit of an action under section 4719.34 of the Revised Code; or comply with a lawful court order or subpoena directing disclosure or use.

(C) Division (A) of this section shall not prevent a person from sharing a do-not-call registry provided for under division (A) or (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code or a do-not-call list provided for under section 4719.27 of the Revised Code with an affiliate for purposes of complying with sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code, provided that the sharing is done in compliance with any applicable federal law.

(D) Whoever violates division (A)(1) of this section is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree.

Sec. 4719.31. Any company that provides a local telephone directory to a telephone service subscriber in this state shall include in the directory a notice that describes the do-not-call registry in effect pursuant to division (A) or (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code and the do-not-call list required under section 4719.27 of the Revised Code and that provides complete information on procedures for a residential telephone subscriber to have its residential telephone number or numbers included on any such registry or list.

Sec. 4719.32. The attorney general, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt the rules required by section 4719.29 of the Revised Code if the attorney general provides for a registry pursuant to division (B) of section 4719.28 of the Revised Code and may adopt any other rules the attorney general considers necessary to carry out sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4719.33. (A) If the attorney general, as a result of complaints or the attorney general's own inquiries, has reason to believe that a person has engaged, is engaging, or is preparing to engage in a violation of section 4719.30 or any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 or a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code, the attorney general may investigate the alleged violation.

(B) For purposes of an investigation under division (A) of this section, the attorney general may administer oaths, subpoena witnesses, adduce evidence, and require the production of any book, document, record, or other relevant matter. If the matter to be produced is located outside this state, the attorney general may designate representatives, including officials of the state in which the matter is located, to inspect the matter on the attorney general's behalf. The person subpoenaed may make the matter available to the attorney general at a convenient location within the state or pay the reasonable and necessary expenses for the attorney general or the attorney general's representative to examine the matter at the place where it is located, provided that expenses shall not be charged to a party not subsequently found to have engaged in a violation of section 4719.30 or any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 or a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code. The attorney general may respond to similar requests from officials of other states.

(C) A person subpoenaed under this section may file a petition to extend the day on which the subpoena is to be returned or to modify or quash the subpoena, for good cause shown, in the court of common pleas of Franklin county or of the county in this state in which the person resides or in which the person's principal place of business is located. The person may file the petition at any time before the day of return specified in the subpoena or within twenty days after the service of the subpoena, whichever is the shorter period.

(D) A person subpoenaed under this section shall comply with the terms of the subpoena unless, prior to the date for return specified in the subpoena or as extended, the court orders otherwise. If a person fails without lawful excuse to obey a subpoena or to produce relevant matter, the attorney general may apply to a court of common pleas for an order that does one or more of the following:

(1) Adjudges the person in contempt of court;

(2) Grants injunctive relief to restrain the person from engaging in conduct that violates section 4719.30 or any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 or a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code;

(3) Grants injunctive relief to preserve or restore the status quo;

(4) Grants other relief that may be required until the person obeys the subpoena.

(E) If a person violates an order of a court issued under this section, the court shall treat the violation as a violation of an injunction issued under section 4719.34 of the Revised Code.

(F) If an individual refuses to testify or to produce relevant matter on the grounds that the testimony or matter may incriminate the individual, the attorney general may request a court to order the individual to provide the testimony or matter. With the exception of a prosecution for perjury and an action for damages under section 4719.34 or 4719.35 of the Revised Code, an individual who complies with a court order to provide testimony or matter, after asserting a privilege against self-incrimination to which the individual is entitled by law, shall not be subjected to a criminal proceeding on the basis of the testimony or matter required to be disclosed or testimony or matter discovered through that testimony or matter.

Sec. 4719.34. (A) If, by the attorney general's own inquiries or as a result of complaints, the attorney general has reasonable cause to believe that a person has engaged or is engaging in a violation of section 4719.30 or any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 or a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code, the attorney general may do either of the following:

(1) Bring an action to obtain a declaratory judgment, temporary restraining order, or preliminary or permanent injunction. If the attorney general shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the person has violated or is violating section 4719.30 or any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 or a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code, the court shall issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary or permanent injunction without bond. On motion of the attorney general, or on its own motion, the court shall impose a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars for each day of violation of any such order or injunction.

(2) Bring a civil action on behalf of residential telephone service subscribers in this state for damages caused by the violation. However, no such action for recovery of damages shall be brought by the attorney general more than two years after the occurrence of the violation.

(B) On motion of the attorney general and without bond, the court may make appropriate orders, including appointment of a receiver, for attachment of assets, to recover actual or statutory damages for residential telephone service subscribers or to grant other appropriate relief including reasonable attorney's fees and costs. If a violation is proven in an action for damages, the court shall award each subscriber the greater amount of actual monetary loss or two hundred dollars, plus court costs and attorney's fees. The court may assess the expenses of the receiver against the violator.

(C) In addition to the other remedies provided in this section, the attorney general may request, and the court shall impose, a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars for each violation of any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 or a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code or each violation of section 4719.30 of the Revised Code. Each call to each called party in violation of any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27, each possession, disclosure, or use in violation of section 4719.30, and each violation of any provision of a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code constitutes a separate violation for purposes of the civil penalty calculations.

(D) Civil penalties ordered pursuant to division (A)(1) or (C) of this section or division (E) of section 4719.33 of the Revised Code, and any moneys or property recovered by the attorney general in an action under division (A)(2) of this section that cannot with due diligence within five years be restored to subscribers, shall be deposited to the credit of the telephone solicitation protection fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury, to be used to pay the costs of the office of the attorney general in enforcing sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4719.35. A violation of section 4719.30 of the Revised Code or of any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 or of a rule adopted under section 4719.32 of the Revised Code by a telephone solicitor or representative that is also a supplier as defined in section 1345.01 of the Revised Code is an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of section 1345.02 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4719.36. A person that has received a call in violation of any provision of section 4719.26 or 4719.27 of the Revised Code may bring an action to enjoin that violation or an action to recover damages, or may bring both such actions. If a violation is proven in an action for damages, the court shall award the greater amount of actual monetary loss or two hundred dollars, plus court costs and attorney's fees. No such action for recovery shall be brought more than two years after the occurrence of the violation.

Sec. 4719.37. It is an affirmative defense in an action or proceeding brought against an entity on whose behalf a telephone solicitation is made for violating sections 4719.26 or 4719.27 of the Revised Code, that the entity established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent telephone solicitations in violation of those sections.

Sec. 4719.38. The powers, remedies, and penalties provided by sections 4719.25 to 4719.38 of the Revised Code are in addition to any other power, remedy, or penalty provided by law.