Provides for the establishment of the do not mail/e-mail statewide registry by the consumer protection board; such registry shall be composed of persons who do not wish to receive unsolicited direct mail marketing; no direct mail marketer shall transmit unsolicited direct mail marketing to any person listed in such registry unless such person solicited the information or has a business relationship with the marketer; fines not to exceed $2,000 may be imposed upon direct mail marketers who violate such provisions.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2520
SPONSOR: McDonough (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the general business law and the state
finance law, in relation to establishing the do not mail/e-mail state-
wide registry relating to direct mail marketing solicitations
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To substantially reduce the amount of unwanted bulk mail people receive
in their home and to reduce the more than 500,000 tons of solid waste
generated by bulk mail each year in New York State.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one contains definitions of applicable terms that define what
activities are covered by the act and who is subject to its provi-
sions.The specific activity covered is the solicitation for the sale of
goods or services through the mail or by e-mail. This definition would
exempt charities and government and political mail from the statute.
Section two provides that the Consumer Protection Board will be the
agency responsible for establishing the do not mail/e-mail statewide
registry and given the authority to promulgate rules and regulations to
carry out the purpose and intent of the act.
Section three describes the specific activity the act is attempting to
regulate.
Section four provides for notice to the public of the registry and the
procedures to be followed to be placed on or removed from the list.
Sections five, six and seven provide the board with the power to promul-
gate rules and regulations to administer the statute, provide penalties
for violation of the statute and more clearly define violations.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2002, New York State households received an average of 900 pieces of
bulk mail weighing over 50 pounds. Over seven million tons of bulk mail
was delivered nationally, 44% of which was thrown in the garbage
unopened. Bulk mail made up over 500,000 tons of solid waste in New York
in 2002 and cost taxpayers over $30 million to dispose of.
This bill would give people the choice of stopping the bulk mail that
comes into their home, much of which is unopened before being disposed
of. At the same time, it would substantially reduce the amount of solid
waste that is generated from bulk mail.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2005-2006 - A.1862
2003-2004 - A.1292
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State. None to local government.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Six months from the date of enactment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2520
2007-2008 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2007
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONOUGH, KOLB, BURLING, BARRA -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. ALFANO, FITZPATRICK, MILLER, OAKS, REILICH,
THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs
and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law and the state finance law, in
relation to establishing the do not mail/e-mail statewide registry
relating to direct mail marketing solicitations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 399-zz to read as follows:
3 § 399-zz. Direct mail marketing solicitations; establishment of do not
4 mail/e-mail statewide registry. 1. As used in this section, the follow-
5 ing terms shall have the following meanings:
6 a. "Board" shall mean the state consumer protection board.
7 b. "Customer" shall mean any natural person who is a resident of this
8 state and who is or may be required to pay for or to exchange consider-
9 ation for goods and services offered through direct mail marketing.
10 c. "Direct mail marketer" shall mean any person who, for financial
11 profit or commercial purposes in connection with direct mail marketing,
12 mails solicitations for the sale of goods or services to a customer when
13 the customer is in this state or any person who directly controls or
14 supervises the conduct of a direct mail marketer. For the purposes of
15 this section, "commercial purposes" shall mean the sale or offer for
16 sale of goods or services.
17 d. "Direct mail marketing" shall mean any mailing which contains
18 solicitations for the sale of goods or services and is directed to a
19 customer at their residence within this state, whether by personal
20 delivery to a customer at his or her residence or by electronic mail
21 over the internet to a computer in his or her residence.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04796-01-7
A. 2520 2
1 e. "Director" shall mean the executive director of the state consumer
2 protection board.
3 f. "Doing business in this state" shall mean mailing or causing to be
4 mailed any direct mail marketing solicitation delivered to a residence
5 by means of personal delivery or by means of electronic mail (i) from a
6 location in this state; or (ii) from a location outside of this state to
7 consumers residing in this state.
8 g. "Goods and services" shall mean any goods and services, and shall
9 include any real property or any tangible personal property or services
10 of any kind.
11 h. "Person" shall mean any natural person, association, partnership,
12 firm, limited liability company, corporation and its affiliates or
13 subsidiaries or other business entity.
14 i. "Unsolicited direct mail marketing" shall mean any direct mail
15 marketing mailing other than a mailing;
16 (i) in response to an express written or verbal request of the custom-
17 er; or
18 (ii) in connection with an established business relationship, which
19 has not been terminated by either party; or
20 (iii) to an existing customer, unless such customer has expressed to
21 the direct mail marketer that such customer no longer wishes to receive
22 any more direct marketing mail from that marketer.
23 2. The board shall establish and maintain a "do not mail/e-mail state-
24 wide registry" which shall contain a list of customers who do not wish
25 to receive unsolicited direct mail marketing. The board may contract
26 with a private vendor to establish and maintain such registry.
27 3. No direct mail marketer shall mail or cause to be mailed any unso-
28 licited direct marketing mail to any customer more than thirty days
29 after the customer's name and address appears on the then current quar-
30 terly do not mail/e-mail statewide registry made available by the board
31 pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
32 4. a. The board shall provide notice to customers of the establishment
33 of the "do not mail/e-mail statewide registry." Any customer who wishes
34 to be included in such registry shall notify the board by calling a
35 toll-free number provided by the board, or in any other such manner and
36 at such times as the board may prescribe which may include notification
37 via the Internet. A customer on such registry shall be deleted from such
38 registry upon the customer's written request. The board shall update
39 such registry not less than quarterly and shall make such registry
40 available to direct mail marketers for such fee as the board shall
41 prescribe.
42 5. The board shall prescribe rules and regulations to administer this
43 section.
44 6. a. Where it is determined after hearing that any person has
45 violated one or more provisions of this section, the director or any
46 person deputized or so designated by him or her may assess a fine not to
47 exceed two thousand dollars for each violation.
48 b. Every proceeding conducted pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivi-
49 sion shall be subject to the state administrative procedure act.
50 c. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to restrict any
51 right which any person may have under any other statute or at common
52 law.
53 7. A person shall not be held liable for violating this section if:
54 a. the person has obtained a copy of and updated, quarterly, the do
55 not mail/e-mail statewide registry and has established and implemented
A. 2520 3
1 written policies and procedures related to the requirements of this
2 section;
3 b. the person has trained his or her personnel in the requirements of
4 this section;
5 c. the person maintains records demonstrating compliance with para-
6 graphs a and b of this subdivision and the requirements of this section;
7 and
8 d. any subsequent unsolicited direct marketing mail is the result of
9 error.
10 § 2. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 97-www of the state finance law,
11 as added by chapter 547 of the laws of 2000, are amended to read as
12 follows:
13 2. Such account shall consist of all fees and penalties received by
14 the state consumer protection board pursuant to article ten-B of the
15 personal property law, [section] sections three hundred ninety-nine-z
16 and three hundred ninety-nine-zz of the general business law and any
17 additional monies appropriated, credited or transferred to such account
18 by the Legislature. Any interest earned by the investment of monies in
19 such account shall be added to such account, become part of such
20 account, and be used for the purposes of such account.
21 3. Monies in the account shall be available to the state consumer
22 protection board for the payment of costs of producing and distributing
23 educational materials and conducting educational activities relating to
24 the promotion of the "[unsolicited] no telemarketing sales [call] calls
25 statewide registry" and the "do not mail/e-mail statewide registry" and
26 all related costs and expenditures incurred in the administration of
27 [section] sections three hundred ninety-nine-z and three hundred nine-
28 ty-nine-zz of the general business law and article ten-B of the personal
29 property law.
30 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
31 it shall have become a law; provided that any rules and regulations
32 necessary to implement the provisions of this act on its effective date
33 are authorized and directed to be promulgated on or before such date.
