Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 1220-4-11-.01
1220-4-11-.01 DEFINITIONS
(1)
"Act"
refers to T.C.A. § 65-4-401 et seq.
(2)
"ADAD" or
"automatic dialing and announcing device" means any device or system
of devices which is used, whether alone or in conjunction with other equipment,
for the purpose of automatically selecting or dialing telephone numbers and
disseminating recorded messages to the numbers so selected or dialed.
(3)
"Affiliate"
of a specific person means a person that directly, or indirectly through one
(1) or more intermediaries, controls, or is controlled by, or is under common
control with, the person specified.
(4)
"Authority"
means the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.
(5)
"Business Telephone
Subscriber" means a person or company who has subscribed to a business
telephone service from a local exchange carrier.
(6)
"Caller identification
service" or "caller ID" means telephone service that notifies
telephone subscribers of the telephone number of incoming telephone calls.
(7)
"Coordinator"
refers to the individual employed by the Authority to oversee the regulation
of telephone solicitation practices, including the operations of the Do Not
Call Register, delegated to the Authority by the General Assembly in T.C.A.
§§ 65-4-401 and 47-18-1501.
(8)
"Database"
means the information from which the Authority compiles the Do Not Call Register.
The database shall be maintained by the Authority, or its designee, for the
purpose of fulfilling the requirements of T.C.A. § 65-4-401.
(9)
"Division"
refers to the Consumer Services Division of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.
(10)
"Do Not Call
Register" means a list of telephone numbers of residential telephone subscribers
who have properly enrolled with the Authority or a Federal agency, that their
telephone numbers not be solicited by telephone solicitors.
(11)
"Existing customer"
includes a residential telephone subscriber with whom the person or entity making
a telephone solicitation has had a business relationship within the prior twelve
(12)
months.
(12) "Interexchange
carrier" means a company that is certificated by the Authority to provide
long distance toll telephone service.
(13)
"Local exchange
companies," as used in this Chapter, includes telecommunications service
providers and competing telecommunications service providers as defined in T.C.A.
§ 65-4-101, as well as telephone cooperatives and cellular or other wireless
telecommunications providers operating in Tennessee.
(14)
"Not-for-profit"
means an organization that is exempt from paying taxes under Section 501(c)
of the Internal Revenue Code.
(15)
"Parent"
means a company owning more than fifty (50) percent of the voting shares, or
otherwise a controlling interest, of another company.
(16)
"Residential
Telephone Subscriber" means a person residing in Tennessee who has residential
telephone service.
(17)
"Subsidiary"
means a corporation more than fifty percent (50%) of whose outstanding voting
shares are owned by its parent and/or the parent's other Subsidiaries.
(18)
"Telephone solicitor"
means any natural person, firm, organization, partnership, association or corporation,
or a parent, subsidiary or affiliate thereof, doing business in this state,
who makes or causes to be made a telephone solicitation, including, but not
limited to, calls made by use of automated dialing and announcing devices or
by a live person.
(a)
"Registrant"
means a telephone solicitor who has submitted an application and properly enrolled
with the Authority to be provided the Do Not Call Register.
(b)
"Principal Solicitor"
means a telephone solicitor that enters into agreements with independent solicitors
as defined herein for the purposes of providing telephone solicitation.
(c)
"Independent
Solicitor" means a telephone solicitor, other than an affiliate, subsidiary
or employee of a Registrant, who has entered into an agreement with one and
only one principal solicitor, as defined herein, to perform telephone solicitation
under the indirect supervision of the principal solicitor.
(19)
"Telephone solicitation"
means any voice communication over a telephone, originating from Tennessee or
elsewhere, for the purposes of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment
in, property, goods, or services except as provided for below. "For the
purposes of encouraging" includes any call made with the intent that the
call will ultimately result in the purchase or rental of, or investment in,
property, goods, or services. Such calls include, but are not limited to: calls
to set appointments, interviews or consultations; to conduct a survey; or to
offer a give-away. Telephone solicitation does not include:
(a)
any voice communication
to any residential telephone subscriber with that subscriber's prior express
invitation or permission;
1.
An offer to sell or
rent a discrete piece of real or personal property does not constitute an express
invitation or permission except for the sole purpose of purchasing or renting
the property or unless (2) below applies;
2.
The use of a residential
telephone line for the purpose of operating a business constitutes an express
invitation or permission for the purposes of these rules;
(b)
any voice communication
to a residential telephone subscriber if such communication is made on behalf
of a not-for-profit organization exempt from paying taxes under the Internal
Revenue Code § 501(c), provided that a bona fide member of the exempt organization
makes such voice communication;
(c)
any voice communication
to any residential telephone subscriber who is an existing customer; or
(d)
occasional and isolated
voice communications to a residential telephone subscriber provided all the
following conditions are met:
1.
A direct employee of
the business makes the voice communication;
2.
The communication is
not made as part of a telecommunications marketing plan;
3.
The business has a
reasonable belief that the specific person who is receiving the voice communication
is considering purchasing the service or product sold or leased by the business
and the call is specifically directed to such person;
4.
The business does not
sell or engage in telephone solicitations; and
5.
The business does not
make more than three (3) such voice communications in any one (1) calendar week.
