California Gov. Gray Davis has signed a series of privacy bills directed at telemarketers, fax advertisers and wireless phone text-message marketers.
One bill, AB 1769, bans unsolicited commercial text messages to cell phones entirely. According to the governor's office, the bill aims to curtail the practice of cell-phone text advertising before it grows into an industry and protect consumers who must pay for receiving text messages on their wireless devices.
A second bill, AB 2944, duplicates the federal prohibition on unsolicited commercial faxes. The bill lets the state enforce the federal ban on such advertising, Davis' office said.
A third bill, SB 1560, is a follow-up to California's passage last year of a state no-call registry law. It clarifies that small businesses using telemarketing can pay reduced rates for access to the do-not-call list and ensures that the list will be implemented on schedule, the governor's office said. California's DNC list is to take effect Jan. 1.
