An innocent-sounding bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 has raised opposition from Floridas attorney general and 53 of her state and territorial counterparts.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in a release that the "Mobile Information Call Act of 2011," HR 3035, blatantly violates a persons telephone privacy and could cause unwarranted charges to a persons telephone bill. I will continue to fight for consumers rights.
The attorney general wants Congress to reject the bill, claiming many states would be unable to enforce their own, more strict state laws against junk faxes, prerecorded calls or text messages.
The bill would allow for robo-calling to all cell phones, leaving consumers responsible for the cost, the state attorney generals office noted.
For example, debt collectors and other businesses could place automated 'informational' calls to cell phones, impacting those who pay by the minute or have a limited number of minutes available, the attorney generals office stated.
The release further contends that an increase in calls to mobile phones could distract drivers.
Currently, federal law allows robo-calls to be placed to people who have given their explicit consent to receive them, or in case of an emergency. If this federal legislation passes, the law will be expanded to allow businesses to robo-call any consumer who has provided their telephone number in the course of a transaction -- regardless of whether a consumer asks not to be contacted.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., has nine co-sponsors. None is from Florida. The bill is up for review in the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
According to a release on Terrys website, the bill is to provide consumers with timely information.
Companies increasingly rely on advanced communications technologies to convey timely and important information to consumers, the release stated. These calls notify consumers about threats such as data breaches and fraud alerts, provide timely notice of flight and service appointment cancellations and drug recalls, and protect consumers against the adverse consequences of failure to make timely payments on an account.
Unfortunately, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act restricts informational calls to mobile devices. With approximately 40 percent of consumers relying on wireless phones as their primary or exclusive communications device, the TCPA's outdated restriction on the use of assistive technologies in contacting wireless consumers for nontelemarketing purposes is now doing far more harm than good.
Those who joined Bondi in signing a letter opposing the bill are from: Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
