Amended in Assembly May 11, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 13, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 925

Introduced by Assembly Member Low

February 26, 2015

An act to amend Section 632.7 begin delete of end delete begin insert of, and to add Section 632.8 to, end insert the Penal Code, relating to crimes.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 925, as amended, Low. Intentional recording of telephonic communication.

Existing law makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,500, by imprisonment in county jail for not more than one year or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment, to intercept or receive and intentionally record, or assist in the interception or receipt and intentional recording of, a communication transmitted between 2 telephonic devices, without the consent of all parties to the communication. Existing law exempts from these provisions a public communications utility when the acts are for the construction, maintenance, or operation of the services of the public utility or are pursuant to the tariffs of the public utility, and also exempts telephonic communication systems used exclusively within a correctional facility, as specified.

This bill would additionally exempt from that prohibition begin delete a nonconfidential end delete begin insert the first 20 seconds of a telephonic end insert communication between a person or business and a current or former customer, or a person reasonably believed to be a current or former begin delete customer, regarding their business relationship, including communications regarding billing, provisioning, maintaining, or operating the product or service provided by the person or business. end delete begin insert customer. The bill would also require the Department of Justice to annually report to the Legislature the number of people charged under these provisions. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 632.7 of the Penal Code is amended to
read:

632.7.  

(a) Every person who, without the consent of all parties
to a communication, intercepts or receives and intentionally
records, or assists in the interception or reception and intentional
recordation of, a communication transmitted between two cellular
radio telephones, a cellular radio telephone and a landline
telephone, two cordless telephones, a cordless telephone and a
landline telephone, or a cordless telephone and a cellular radio
telephone, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand
five hundred dollars ($2,500), or by imprisonment in a county jail
not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine
and imprisonment. If the person has been convicted previously of
a violation of this section or of Section 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, or
636, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and
imprisonment.

(b) This section shall not apply to any of the following:

(1) A public utility engaged in the business of providing
communications services and facilities, or to the officers,
employees, or agents thereof, when the acts otherwise prohibited
are for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct, or
operation of the services and facilities of the public utility.

(2) The use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service
furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of the public utility.

(3) A telephonic communication system used for communication
exclusively within a state, county, city and county, or city
correctional facility.

begin delete

(4) A nonconfidential communication between a person or
business and a current or former customer of the person or business,
or a person reasonably believed to be a current or former customer,
regarding their business relationship, including, but not limited to,
communications regarding billing, provisioning, maintaining, or
operating the product or service provided by the person or business.

end delete begin insert

(4) The initial 20 seconds of a telephonic communication
between a business and a current or former customer, or a person
reasonably believed to be a current or former customer.

end insert

(c) As used in this section, each of the following terms have the
following meaning:

(1) “Cellular radio telephone” means a wireless telephone
authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to operate
in the frequency bandwidth reserved for cellular radio telephones.

(2) “Cordless telephone” means a two-way, low power
communication system consisting of two parts, a “base” unit which
connects to the public switched telephone network and a handset
or “remote” unit, that are connected by a radio link and authorized
by the Federal Communications Commission to operate in the
frequency bandwidths reserved for cordless telephones.

(3) “Communication” includes, but is not limited to,
communications transmitted by voice, data, or image, including
facsimile.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 632.8 is added to the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 632.8. end insert   

(a) On January 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, the
Department of Justice shall report to the Legislature the number
of people charged with a crime under Section 632.7 during the
preceding year.

(b) The report to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

end insert