[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR308.2]

[Page 342-343]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
                   CHAPTER I--FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
 
PART 308_TRADE REGULATION RULE PURSUANT TO THE TELEPHONE DISCLOSURE 
AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACT OF 1992--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 308.2  Definitions.

    (a) Bona fide educational service means any pay-per-call service 
dedicated to providing information or instruction relating to education, 
subjects of academic study, or other related areas of school study.
    (b) Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.
    (c) Pay-per-call service has the meaning provided in section 228 of 
the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 228. \1\
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    \1\ Section 228 of the Communications Act of 1934 states:
    (1) The term pay-per-call services means any service--
    (A) In which any person provides or purports to provide--
    (i) Audio information or audio entertainment produced or packaged by 
such person;
    (ii) Access to simultaneous voice conversation services; or
    (iii) Any service, including the provision of a product, the charges 
for which are assessed on the basis of the completion of the call;
    (B) For which the caller pays a per-call or per-time-interval charge 
that is greater than, or in addition to, the charge for transmission of 
the call; and
    (C) Which is accessed through use of a 900 telephone number or other 
prefix or area code designated by the (Federal Communications) 
Commission in accordance with subsection (b)(5) (47 U.S.C. 228(b)(5)).
    (2) Such term does not include directory services provided by a 
common carrier or its affiliate or by a local exchange carrier or its 
affiliate, or any service the charge for which is tariffed, or any 
service for which users are assessed charges only after entering into a 
presubcription or comparable arrangement with the provider of such 
service.
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    (d) Person means any individual, partnership, corporation, 
association, government or governmental subdivision or agency, or other 
entity.
    (e)(1) Presubscription or comparable arrangement means a contractual 
agreement in which
    (i) The service provider clearly and conspicuously discloses to the 
consumer all material terms and conditions associated with the use of 
the service, including the service provider's name and address, a 
business telephone number which the consumer

[[Page 343]]

may use to obtain additional information or to register a complaint, and 
the rates for the service;
    (ii) The service provider agrees to notify the consumer of any 
future rate changes;
    (iii) The consumer agrees to utilize the service on the terms and 
conditions disclosed by the service provider; and
    (iv) The service provider requires the use of an identification 
number or other means to prevent unauthorized access to the service by 
nonsubscribers.
    (2) Disclosure of a credit card or charge card number, along with 
authorization to bill that number, made during the course of a call to a 
pay-per-call service shall constitute a presubscription or comparable 
arrangement if the credit or charge card is subject to the dispute 
resolution requirements of the Fair Credit Billing Act and the Truth in 
Lending Act, as amended. No other action taken by the consumer during 
the course of a call to a pay-per-call service can be construed as 
creating a presubscription or comparable arrangement.
    (f) Program-length commercial means any commercial or other 
advertisement fifteen (15) minutes in length or longer or intended to 
fill a television or radio broadcasting or cablecasting time slot of 
fifteen (15) minutes in length or longer.
    (g) Provider of pay-per-call services means any person who sells or 
offers to sell a pay-per-call service. A person who provides only 
transmission services or billing and collection services shall not be 
considered a provider of pay-per-call services.
    (h) Reasonably understandable volume means at an audible level that 
renders the message intelligible to the receiving audience, and, in any 
event, at least the same audible level as that principally used in the 
advertisement or the pay-per-call service.
    (i) Service bureau means any person, other than a common carrier, 
who provides, among other things, access to telephone service and voice 
storage to pay-per-call service providers.
    (j) Slow and deliberate manner means at a rate that renders the 
message intelligible to the receiving audience, and, in any event, at a 
cadence or rate no faster than that principally used in the 
advertisement or the pay-per-call service.
    (k) Sweepstakes, including games of chance, means a game or 
promotional mechanism that involves the elements of a prize and chance 
and does not require consideration.