Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 105 Part 3.djvu/516

This page needs to be proofread.

105 STAT. 2400 PUBLIC LAW 102-243—DEC. 20, 1991 ards for telephone facsimile machines to require that any such machine which is manufactured after one year after the date of enactment of this section clearly marks, in a margin at the top or bottom of each transmitted page or on the first page of each transmission, the date and time sent, an identification of the business, other entity, or individual sending the message, and the telephone number of the sending machine or of such business, other entity, or individual. "(3) ARTIFICIAL OR PRERECORDED VOICE SYSTEMS. —The Commission shall prescribe technical and procedural standards for systems that are used to transmit any artificial or prerecorded voice message via telephone. Such standards shall require that— "(A) all artificial or prerecorded telephone messages (i) shall, at the beginning of the message, state clearly the identity of the business, individual, or other entity initiating the call, and (ii) shall, during or after the message, state clearly the telephone number or address of such business, other entity, or individual; and "(B) any such system will automatically release the called party's line within 5 seconds of the time notification is transmitted to the system that the called party has hung up, to allow the called party's line to be used to make or receive other calls. "(e) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.— "(1) STATE LAW NOT PREEMPTED. —Except for the standards prescribed under subsection (d) and subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, nothing in this section or in the regulations prescribed under this section shall preempt any State law that imposes more restrictive intrastate requirements or regulations on, or which prohibits— "(A) the use of telephone facsimile machines or other electronic devices to send unsolicited advertisements; "(B) the use of automatic telephone dialing systems; "(C) the use of artificial or prerecorded voice messages; or "(D) the making of telephone solicitations. "(2) STATE USE OF DATABASES.— I f, pursuant to subsection (c)(3), the Commission requires the establishment of a single national database of telephone numbers of subscribers who object to receiving telephone solicitations, a State or local authority may not, in its regulation of telephone solicitations, require the use of any database, list, or listing system that does not include the part of such single national datebase that relates to such State. '\f) ACTIONS BY STATES. — "(1) AUTHORITY OF STATES.— Whenever the attorney general of a State, or an official or agency designated by a State, has reason to believe that any person has engaged or is engaging in a pattern or practice of telephone calls or other transmissions to residents of that State in violation of this section or the regulations prescribed under this section, the State may bring a civil action on behalf of its residents to enjoin such calls, an action to recover for actual monetary loss or receive $500 in damages for each violation, or both such actions. If the court finds the defendant willfully or knowingly violated such regulations, the court may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to