Cal Bus & Prof Code § 17538.41
§ 17538.41. Transmission of text message advertisement to cellular phone or pager equipped with short message capability prohibited
(a)
(1)
Except as
provided in subdivision (b), (c), (d), or (e), no person, entity conducting
business, candidate, or political committee in this state shall transmit, or cause
to be transmitted, a text message advertisement to a mobile telephony services
handset, pager, or two-way messaging device that is equipped with short message
capability or any similar capability allowing the transmission of text
messages. A text message advertisement is a message, the principal purpose of
which is to promote the sale of goods or services, or to promote a political
purpose or objective, to the recipient, and consisting of advertising material
for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty,
goods, services, or extension of credit, or advertising material for political
purposes.
(2)
This section
shall apply when a text message advertisement is transmitted to a number
assigned for mobile telephony service, pager service, or two-way messaging
service to a California resident.
(b)
This section shall not
apply to text messages transmitted at the direction of a person or entity
offering mobile telephony service, pager service, or two-way messaging service
if the subscriber is offered an option to not receive those text messages.
(c)
This section shall not
apply to text messages transmitted by a business, candidate, or political
committee that has an existing relationship with the subscriber if the
subscriber is offered an option not to receive text messages from that
business, candidate, or political committee.
(d)
This section shall not
apply to text messages transmitted by an affiliate of a business that has an
existing relationship with the subscriber, but only if the subscriber has
provided consent to the business with which he or she has that relationship to
receive text messages from affiliates of that business. "Affiliate"
means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control
with, another company.
(e)
This section shall not
apply to electronic mail messages that are forwarded, without the knowledge of
the sender, to a mobile telephony services handset, pager, or two-way messaging
device.
(f)
Subdivision (a) shall
not impose an obligation on a person or entity offering mobile telephony
service, pager service, or two-way messaging service to control the
transmission of a text message unless the message is transmitted at the
direction of that person or entity.
(g)
For purposes of this
section, "mobile telephony service" means commercially available
interconnected mobile phone services that provide access to the public switched
telephone network (PSTN) via mobile communication devices employing radiowave technology to transmit calls, including cellular
radiotelephone, broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS), and digital
Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR).
