Introduced By: Reps. Kennedy, Henseler, Lewiss, Quick and Naughton
Date Introduced : February 2, 1999
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "Commercial Law -- General Regulatory Provisions" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
{ADD 6-47-1. Advertising by fax. -- ADD} {ADD (a) No person or entity conducting business in the state of Rhode Island shall transmit by facsimile (fax) or cause to be faxed, documents consisting of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit unless: ADD}
{ADD (1) In the case of a fax, that person or entity must establish a toll-free telephone number that a recipient of the unsolicited faxed documents may call to notify the sender not to fax the recipient any further unsolicited documents. ADD}
{ADD (2) In the case of faxed material, the statement shall be in at least nine-point type. The statement shall be the first text in the body of the message and shall be of the same size as the majority of the text of the message. ADD}
{ADD (b) Upon notification by a recipient of his or her request not to receive any further unsolicited fax, no person or entity conducting business in the state of Rhode Island shall fax or cause to be faxed any unsolicited documents to that recipient. ADD}
{ADD (c) As used in this chapter, "unsolicited fax" means any document or documents consisting of advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit that meet both of the following requirements: ADD}
{ADD (1) The documents are addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship. ADD}
{ADD (2) The documents are not sent at the request of, or with the express consent of, the recipient. ADD}
{ADD (d) As used in this chapter, "fax" or "caused to be faxed" does not include or refer to the transmission of any documents by a telecommunications utility or Internet service provider to the extent that the telecommunications utility or Internet service provider merely carries that transmission over its network. ADD}
{ADD 6-47-2. Unsolicited electronic mail. -- ADD}{ADD (a) No person or entity may initiate the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message from a computer located in Rhode Island or to an electronic mail address that the sender knows, or has reason to know, is held by a Rhode Island resident unless that person or entity establishes a toll-free telephone number or valid sender operated return e-mail address that the recipient of the unsolicited documents may call or e-mail to notify the sender not to e-mail any further unsolicited documents. ADD}
{ADD (b) All unsolicited commercial electronic messages subject to this section shall include a statement informing the recipient of the toll-free telephone number that the recipient may call, or a valid return address to which the recipient may write or e-mail, as the case may be, notifying the sender not to e-mail the recipient any further unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages to the e-mail address, or addresses specified by the recipient. ADD}
{ADD (c) Upon notification by a recipient of his or her request not to receive any further unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages, no person or entity subject to subsection (a) shall e-mail or cause to be e-mailed any unsolicited documents to that recipient. ADD}
{ADD (d) No person or entity may initiate the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message from a computer located in Rhode Island or to an electronic mail address that the sender knows, or has reason to know, is held by a Rhode Island resident that fraudulently uses a third party's internet domain name without permission of the third party, or otherwise fraudulently misrepresents any information in identifying the point of origin or the transmission path of a commercial electronic mail message. ADD}
{ADD (e) As used in this section, "commercial electronic messages" means any e-mailed document or documents consisting of commercial advertising material, the principal purpose of which is to promote the for-profit sale or lease of goods or services to the recipient and which meet both of the following requirements: ADD}
{ADD (1) The documents are addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship. ADD}
{ADD (2) The documents are not sent at the request of, or with the express consent of, the recipient. ADD}
{ADD (f) As used in this section, "e-mail" or "caused to be e-mailed" does not include or refer to the transmission of any documents by a telecommunications utility or Internet service provider to the extent that the telecommunications utility or Internet service provider merely carries that transmission over its network. ADD}
{ADD (g) For purposes of this section, a person or entity has reason to know that the intended recipient of a commercial electronic mail message is a Rhode Island resident if the recipient has requested of the sender not to receive any further unsolicited commercial electronic messages. ADD}
{ADD (h) Any person or entity who violates the provisions of this chapter shall be liable for damages to the recipient of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100) for each such violation. In addition, the recipient may recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs. ADD}
{ADD 6-47-3. Severability.-- ADD}{ADD If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this chapter, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable. ADD}
SECTION 2. Section 11-35-27 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-35 entitled "Public Utilities" is hereby repealed in its entirety.
{DEL 11-35-27. Unsolicited facsimile machine advertising.
-- Any person who uses a machine that electronically transmits
facsimiles of documents through connection with a telephone network
to transmit unsolicited advertising material for the sale of any
real property, goods, or services shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars
($200) for each occurrence. DEL}
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
