§ 336-B*2 — Interactive information network service; disclosure

* § 336-b. Interactive information network service; disclosure. 1. For\nthe purposes of this section, the term "interactive information network\nservice" means the furnishing or provision of an entertainment service\nor of an information service, which is furnished, provided, or delivered\nby means of any telephony or telegraphy or telephone or telegraph\nservice (whether intrastate, interstate, or international) of whatever\nnature, such entertainment or information services provided through 800,\n888 or 900 numbers, mass announcement services, interactive information\nnetwork services, collect calls or direct calls.\n 2. No person, partnership, firm, association or corporation or agent\nor employee shall advertise the services of an interactive information\nnetwork service in any broadcast advertisement unless such advertisement\nshall conspicuously give notice setting forth the total cost of the\nservice to the consumer, whether or not such cost will be incurred upon\ncontacting the service or over a period of time, and the cost per call\nand/or the cost per minute or additional minute, if applicable, of the\nservice, and which notice, in the case of an international call, shall\nset forth all costs incident to the service, whether or not such costs\nwill be incurred upon contacting the service or over a period of time,\nand which costs shall include, but not be limited to, an estimate of the\ncost of the consumer's outgoing call based upon the established\nundiscounted rates of the long-distance provider which then has the most\ncustomers in this state.\n 3. No person, partnership, firm, association or corporation or agent\nor employee shall advertise the services of an interactive information\nnetwork service in any publication, solicitation or print advertisement\nunless such advertisement shall conspicuously contain, in at least ten\npoint bold type, a notice setting forth the total cost of the service to\nthe consumer, whether or not such cost will be incurred upon contacting\nthe service or over a period of time, and the cost per call and/or the\ncost per minute or additional minute, if applicable, of the service, and\nwhich notice, in the case of an international call, shall set forth all\ncosts incident to the service, whether or not such costs will be\nincurred upon contacting the service or over a period of time, and which\nshall include, but not be limited to, an estimate of the costs of the\nconsumer's outgoing call based upon the established undiscounted rates\nof the long-distance provider which then has the most customers in this\nstate.\n 4. Nothing in this section shall apply to any television or radio\nbroadcasting station or to any publisher or printer of a newspaper,\nmagazine or other form of printed advertising, who broadcasts,\npublishes, or prints the advertisement.\n 5. When applicable, providers of interactive information network\nservices shall cause the following message or words to the effect of the\nfollowing to be provided to the caller, in the language in which\ninformation during such call will be provided:\n "The call you are placing will cost (rate at which fees or charges are\nincurred). In order for you to receive the information you are calling\nfor, that fee will be charged to your telephone bill. If you do not want\nto pay this amount, please hang up."\n The calculation of any applicable fees by the provider of an\ninteractive information network service shall not commence until ten\nseconds after the provision of the notice of fees to be charged to the\nconsumer required by this subdivision. The provisions of this\nsubdivision shall not apply to any service provided by: (a) a telephone\ncorporation as that term is defined in section two of the public service\nlaw, (b) a provider of mobile service as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 153, or\n(c) a cable television company as defined in section two hundred twelve\nof the public service law, or the affiliates of any of the foregoing.\n 6. For the purposes of this section any games or contests with or\nwithout prizes being offered shall be an entertainment service.\n 7. Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an application\nmay be made by the attorney general in the name of the people of the\nstate of New York to a court or justice having jurisdiction to issue an\ninjunction to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violation; and\nif it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court or justice that the\ndefendant has, in fact, violated this section, an injunction may be\nissued by such court or justice, enjoining and restraining any further\nviolation, without requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been\ninjured or damaged thereby. Whenever the court shall determine that a\nviolation of this section has occurred, the court may impose a civil\npenalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each violation. In\nconnection with any such proposed application the attorney general is\nauthorized to take proof and make a determination of the relevant facts\nand to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and\nrules.\n * NB There are 2 § 336-b's\n