09 LC 36
1350S/AP
House
Bill 302 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By:
Representatives Hamilton of the
23rd,
Collins of the
27th,
Loudermilk of the
14th,
Amerson of the
9th,
Rogers of the
26th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 4 of Chapter 5 of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to telecommunications and competition development, so as to
require telecommunications companies to provide customers with the ability to
block nonaffiliated third-party services and associated charges; to provide for
related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws;
and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
4 of Chapter 5 of Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to telecommunications and competition development, is amended by revising Code
Section 46-5-171.1, relating to written authorization required by customer prior
to being charged for service initiated by a third party, to read as
follows:
"46-5-171.1.
(a)
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, no telecommunications
company shall charge a customer for any service which is provided to the
customer by a nonaffiliated third party until such third party has certified to
the telecommunications company that the third party has received the customer's
written authorization for such charges. When a customer initiates a new type of
such third-party service or changes the type or types of such third-party
service received, the invoice for such new or changed services must state the
charges for such services in a clear, conspicuous, separate, and distinct manner
so as to ensure that the customer is aware of the new or changed charges.
Any
telecommunications company that charges a customer for a service which is
provided to the customer by a nonaffiliated third party must provide to such
customer the ability to block the nonaffiliated third-party service and any
charges associated with such service.
(b)
This Code section shall not apply to any transaction between a customer and that
customer's selected provider of basic local exchange, inter-LATA, or intra-LATA
telecommunications services or initial requests to subscribe to such services;
wireless services; requests for a change in a customer's provider of local
exchange service or a change in a customer's primary interexchange inter-LATA or
intra-LATA carrier; or customer initiated use of abbreviated dialing codes or
other pay-per-use services."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective on January 1, 2010.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.