BILL NUMBER: AB 1074 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 16, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fuentes
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 1714.55 to the Civil Code, relating to
personal liability.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1074, as amended, Fuentes. Personal liability immunity:
telecommunication telecommunications
service providers.
Existing law provides that a telecommunications service provider
is generally liable for any claim, damage, or loss caused by their
conduct.
This bill would provide that a provider of
telecommunication telecommunications service, or
other service, that is involved in providing 9-1-1 service, as
defined, is not liable for any civil claim, damage, or
loss caused by an act or omission of the company, and other
individuals, in the design, development, maintenance, or
provision of 9-1-1 service, unless the act or omission that
proximately caused the claim, damage, or loss constituted gross
negligence, recklessness wanton or willful
misconduct , or intentional misconduct.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1714.55 is added to the Civil Code, immediately
following 1714.5, to read:
1714.55. (a) A retail or wholesale service provider of
telecommunications service, or other service, involved in providing
9-1-1 service, shall not be liable for any civil claim,
damage, or loss caused by an act or omission of the company,
business, or individual in the design, development,
installation, maintenance, or provision of 9-1-1 service, unless the
act or omission that proximately caused the claim, damage, or loss
constituted gross negligence, recklessness
wanton or willful misconduct , or intentional misconduct.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Public safety agency" is means a
public safety agency as defined in accordance with the
Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act (Article 6 (commencing with
Section 53100) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the
Government Code).
(2) "9-1-1 service" means a system involved in either connecting
users to a public safety agency, or in providing data, including, but
not limited to, the location of the user, to a public safety agency.
(c) This section shall not be construed to modify service tariff
provisions.
(2) "9-1-1 service" means a telecommunications service, or other
wireline or wireless service, that provides to the user of the public
telephone system the ability to reach a public safety agency by
utilizing the digits 9-1-1 or otherwise facilitates the provision of
emergency services pursuant to the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance
Act (Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1 of Part 1
of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code). "9-1-1 service"
includes a 9-1-1 service that utilizes in whole or in part an
Internet Protocol.
(c) This section shall not apply to services provided under
tariff.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that
the general public increasingly relies on wireless telephones for
their primary means of communication, and that more 9-1-1 calls are
now placed on wireless telephones than on traditional landline
telephones. People expect to be able to call for help using the
technology that they use for their everyday communications. Next
Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1), which utilizes Internet Protocol-based
communication technology, will improve a 9-1-1 operator's ability to
locate a wireless caller who cannot speak or give their location, and
make possible future applications that will allow emergency
responders to receive text messages, real-time images of the site of
an emergency before they arrive on the scene, telemetric data from
crash sensors in automobiles even when the injured occupants cannot
call 9-1-1, and a wealth of other data that can save lives, including
their own. NG 9-1-1 involves service providers beyond the
traditional landline telephone companies that have provided 9-1-1
service for decades. The Federal Communication Commission has an open
proceeding to adopt the rapid adoption of NG 9-1-1 by the states. It
is the intent of the Legislature that state law should be amended to
encourage qualified service providers beyond traditional landline
telephone companies to develop NG 9-1-1 services, and that California
should lead the nation in the deployment of NG 9-1-1.