Pay-Per-Call Rule Review (16 C.F.R. Part 308)
The Federal Trade Commission has announced a proposal to revise its Pay-Per-Call Rule (formerly referred to as the 900-Number Rule, 16 CFR Part 308), which was published in the Federal Register on October 30, 1998. The proposal includes, among other things, new provisions that will combat telephone bill cramming -- unauthorized charges on consumers' phone bills. The proposal is the result of extensive analysis by the Commission of the effectiveness of the Rule and developments in the marketplace since 1993. In addition to reviewing written comments received in response to an earlier Federal Register Notice about the Rule (published on March 12, 1997), the FTC convened a two-day public workshop in June 1997 attended by consumer representatives, industry members and other interested stakeholders. The proposed revisions are based in part on the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which granted the FTC authority to broaden the scope of the Pay-Per-Call Rule to encompass audiotext services that may be accessed through dialing patterns other than the 900 exchange. A link to the current rule, as well as to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and the corresponding press release can be found below. In addition, staff of the FTC have prepared a comparison of the current and proposed rules, which is also listed below, as a link.
Pay-Per-Call Rule, 16 CFR Part 308 (Current) [66K]
Notice of submission to OMB for Paperwork Reduction Act clearance with request for public comment, 67 FR 77066 (12/16/2002) [HTML] [PDF 44K]
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Proposed Changes to the Pay-Per-Call Rule (1998-1999)
| Notice of submission to OMB for Paperwork Reduction Act clearance with request for public comment, 64 Fed. Reg. 70,031-70,033 (12/15/1999) [HTML] [PDF 125K] | |
| Post Workshop Supplemental Comments | |
| Public Workshop Transcripts | |
| News Release announcing Workshop (05/19/99) | |
| Workshop Agenda | |
| Workshop Participants | |
| Comments received in response to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking | |
Comment Period Extended to March 10, 1999
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| News Release announcing proposed rule (10/23/98) | |
| Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Note: This document is available in two formats. The Federal Register version should be used for official citation, however, it does not include all of the italics and formatting found in the Commission Document. See Press Release of 12/23/98 for more information. |
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| Staff Comparison of Current and Proposed Rules [PDF 90K] |
Request for Comment and Rule Review (1997)
| News Release announcing the rule review (03/11/97) | |
| Federal Register Notice (3/12/97, at 62 FR 11750) Notice that Commission conducting rule review and requst for public comment. |
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| Public Comments received in response to Notice | |
| News Release announcing Public Workshop (06/17/97) Public Workshop to occur on June 19-20, 1997 |
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| Public Workshop Transcripts |
Staff Opinions
| Cohn-Brecher (09/29/99) [TEXT] | |
| Cohn-Ellyatt (09/29/99) [TEXT] |