BILL NUMBER: AB 1074	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 12, 2011
	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:
telecommunications service providers.
   Existing law  provides that   , the
Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act, requires every local public
agency to establish and operate a telephone system that automatically
connects a person dialing 9-1-1 to an established public safety
answering point through normal telephone service facilities. Under
existing law,  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 telecommunications
service, or other service, that is involved in providing 9-1-1
service, as defined,  in accordance with the Warren-911-Emergency
Assistance Act  is not liable for any civil claim, damage, or
loss caused by an act or omission 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, 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  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)  ,
shall not be liable for any civil claim, damage, or loss caused by an
act or omission 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, wanton or willful misconduct, or
intentional misconduct.
   (b) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Public safety agency" 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 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. 
   (d) This section shall not be construed to modify the liability of
a manufacturer, distributor, or other person arising from a claim,
damage, or loss, related to the operation or performance of an
end-user device that is not related to the provision of 9-1-1
service. 
  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   Comm  
unications  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.