Title 8 — Title 8

The provisions of this chapter shall be construed liberally to promote the general welfare of the public and the integrity of the telemarketing industry. History: (Acts 1994, No. 94-650, p. 1220, §2.)

The division or other enforcing authority shall have criminal prosecuting authority concerning the violations of this chapter or of any rule or order hereunder. In addition to any other action, the division or other enforcing authority may bring an action against any person to en…

(a) No salesperson shall solicit purchasers on behalf of a commercial telephone seller who is not currently licensed with the division pursuant to this chapter. Any person who violates this subsection commits a Class C felony punishable as provided in Section 13A-5-6 and Section …

Producing Evidence. In any civil proceeding alleging a violation of this chapter, the burden of proving an exemption specified in Section 8-19A-4 or that the person or entity is not otherwise subject to this chapter is upon the person or entity claiming the exemption. In any crim…

In addition to any other penalties or remedies provided under law, a person who is injured by a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action for recovery of actual damages and any damages that would be available at common law or by statute, including actual costs, court cos…

The division shall promulgate rules to implement and administer this chapter. History: (Acts 1994, No. 94-650, p. 1220, §24.)

As used in this chapter and Chapter 19C, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: (1) CALLER IDENTIFICATION SERVICE. A type of telephone service which permits telephone subscribers to see the telephone number of incomin…

The provisions of this chapter do not apply to: (1) A person engaging in commercial telephone solicitation where the solicitation is an isolated transaction and not done in the course of a pattern of repeated transactions of like nature. (2) A person making calls for religious, c…

(a) Prior to doing business in this state, a commercial telephone seller shall obtain a license from the division. Doing business in this state includes both telephone solicitation from a location in Alabama and solicitation from other states or nations of purchasers located in A…

(a) With respect to any person identified pursuant to Section 8-19A-5, an applicant for a license as a commercial telephone seller shall state in his or her application the identity of any affiliated commercial seller or salesperson who: (1) Has been convicted of, or is under ind…

(a) An applicant for a license as a salesperson shall submit to the division, in the form prescribed, a written application for a license. The application shall set forth the following information: (1) The true name, date of birth, driver’s license number, Social Security number,…

(a) The division shall issue to each approved applicant a license in the form and size as is prescribed by the division and, in the case of a commercial telephone seller, shall issue a license for each location at which the commercial telephone seller proposes to do business. Eac…

(a) Each person licensed under this chapter shall renew his or her license annually by paying the fee for licensing and submitting to the division the application required by this chapter. (b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), if any material change in the informati…

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person or provider of telecommunication service to knowingly designate or change the provider of telecommunication service to a subscriber without the permission or authorization of such subscriber. An affirmative order for designation or change i…

The Legislature of Alabama finds all of the following: (1) The use of the telephone to market goods and services to the home is pervasive now due to the increased use of cost-effective telemarketing techniques. (2) Over 30,000 businesses actively telemarket goods and services to …

A court of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over any nonresident or his or her executor or administrator as to an action or proceeding authorized by this chapter. History: (Act 99-450, p. 1043, §11.)

The remedies, duties, prohibitions, and penalties of Sections 8-19C-2 to 8-19C-10, inclusive, of this chapter shall not be exclusive and shall be in addition to all other causes of action, remedies, and penalties provided by law. History: (Act 99-450, p. 1043, §12.)

No provider of telephone caller identification service, local exchange telephone company, or long distance telephone company may be held liable for violations of this chapter committed by other persons or entities. History: (Act 99-450, p. 1043, §13.)

(a) No person or entity may make or cause to be made any telephone solicitation to the telephone line of any residential subscriber in this state who has given notice to the commission of his or her objection to receiving telephone solicitations. (b)(1) The commission shall estab…

(a) The commission shall have the authority to charge a residential subscriber a fee every two years payable to the commission for each notice for inclusion on the database established pursuant to this chapter. The commission shall also have the authority to charge a person or en…

Information contained in the database established pursuant to this chapter may be used only for the purpose of compliance with this chapter or in a proceeding or action pursuant to Section 8-19C-6 or 8-19C-7. The information shall not be subject to public inspection or disclosure…

(a) Any person or entity who makes a telephone solicitation to the telephone line of a residential subscriber in this state shall identify himself or herself as provided under Section 8-19A-12. (b) No person or entity who makes a telephone solicitation to the telephone line of a …

The commission may commence proceedings in the circuit court in the county relating to a knowing violation or threatened knowing violation of subsection (a) of Section 8-19C-2 or Section 8-19C-5. Proceedings which the commission may commence, include, without limitation, issuance…

A person who has received more than one telephone solicitation within a 12-month period by or on behalf of the same person or entity in violation of subsection (a) of Section 8-19C-2 or Section 8-19C-5 may bring an action to enjoin the violation; bring an action to recover for ac…

It shall be a defense in any action or proceeding brought under Section 8-19C-6 or Section 8-19C-7 that the defendant has established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent telephone solicitations in violation of this chapter. H…

No action or proceeding may be brought under Section 8-19C-6 or Section 8-19C-7 more than two years after the person bringing the action knew or should have known of the occurrence of the alleged violation; or more than two years after the termination of any proceeding or action …

For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) PERSON. An individual, corporation, company, partnership, estate, trust, association, foundation, cooperative, or any other legal entity. (2) PRIZE. Any item of value given to a winner in a s…

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit or sell a product or service through the mail by implying or expressly representing in the solicitation that the person being solicited has won or has been selected to receive a prize or purported prize unless the qualifying lang…

Admission tickets to any athletic contest, dance, theater, concert, circus, or other amusement shall have the price paid for the ticket, excluding order processing and delivery charges, printed on the face of the ticket. History: (Act 2009-568, p. 1670, §1.)

An admission ticket that was originally issued, sold, or authorized by the organizer or venue to any athletic contest, dance, theater, concert, circus, or other amusement may be resold for an amount in excess of the price printed on the face of the ticket. History: (Act 2009-568,…

(a) Any person who sells a counterfeit admission ticket, upon conviction, shall be guilty of forgery in the third degree which is a Class A misdemeanor. (b) A license inspector may issue citations and otherwise enforce this chapter under the authority granted pursuant to Section …

An individual reselling admission tickets through an Internet website or other electronic means shall not be required to obtain a business license under Section 40-12-167. History: (Act 2009-568, p. 1670, §4.)

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Fantasy Contests Act. History: (Act 2019-343, §1.)

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to alter the existing authority of the state or any state official with respect to any matter other than fantasy contests as defined in this chapter. History: (Act 2019-343, §10.)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. Information related to the play of a fantasy contest by fantasy contest players obtained as a result of, or by virtue of, a person’s employment. (2) ENTRY FEE. C…

(a)(1) No fantasy contest operator shall offer any fantasy contest with an entry fee in this state without first being registered with the regulator. Applications for registration and renewal shall be under oath, in the form prescribed by the Attorney General. The regulator shall…

A fantasy contest operator who operates fantasy contests with an entry fee shall implement commercially reasonable procedures that are intended to accomplish all of the following: (1) Prevent the fantasy contest operator, employees of the fantasy contest operator, and relatives l…

A violation of this chapter is a deceptive trade practice under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Chapter 19 of this title. History: (Act 2019-343, §5.)

The provisions of this chapter shall be construed liberally to promote the general welfare of the public and integrity of the fantasy sports industry. History: (Act 2019-343, §6.)

The Office of the Attorney General may adopt rules to implement and administer this chapter. History: (Act 2019-343, §7.)

Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Title 13A does not apply to a fantasy contest. History: (Act 2019-343, §8.)

A fantasy contest offered pursuant to this chapter does not constitute a lottery or gift enterprise pursuant to Section 65 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022. History: (Act 2019-343, §9.)

The Legislature finds and declares the following: (1) The pervasive use of pornography is creating a public health crisis. (2) Pornography is contributing to the hypersexualization of children and teens in our society. (3) Due to advances in technology and the universal availabil…

Requirements; Distribution of Funds; Rulemaking Authority. (a) In addition to all other taxes of every kind, there is levied and shall be collected a tax at the rate of 10 percent upon the gross receipts of any commercial entity operating an adult website for all sales, distribut…

As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) ADULT WEBSITE. A website, application, or digital or virtual platform that uses the Internet to facilitate the dissemination of pictures, videos, or other content, a substantial portion of which is sexu…

(a) Any commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes sexual material harmful to minors through an adult website shall use a reasonable age-verification method to provide reasonable assurance that individuals under 18 years of age cannot access the m…

(a) Any commercial entity or third party that performs the required age-verification under Section 8-19G-3 shall not retain any personally identifying information of the individual after access has been granted to the sexual material. (b) A commercial entity that is found to have…

Providers, Etc. No Internet service provider, or its affiliates or subsidiaries, search engine, or cloud service provider shall be held to have violated this chapter or Section 13A-6-240, solely for providing access or connection to or from a website or other information or conte…

(a) Any individual injured by a violation of Section 8-19G-3, Section 8-19G-8, or Section 8-19G-9 may bring a civil action in circuit court against the commercial entity to recover actual and punitive damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees. If the injured individual…

In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any violation of Section 8-19G-3, Section 8-19G-8, or Section 8-19G-9 shall be considered a violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act under Chapter 19 of the this title. History: (Act 2024-97, §7.)