Authorizes the court to issue orders requiring wireless telephone companies to transfer the billing responsibility and rights to wireless telephone numbers of petitioners and minor children in instances of domestic violence.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7931
IN SENATE
May 25, 2016
___________
Introduced by Sens. GRIFFO, PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Tele-
communications
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to authorizing the
court to issue orders requiring wireless telephone companies to trans-
fer the billing responsibility and rights to wireless telephone
numbers in instances of domestic violence
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds and declares
2 that:
3 (a) For many victims of domestic violence, a wireless telephone is
4 their lifeline to the community resources, life-saving services, and
5 support network they need to leave their batterer and abusive environ-
6 ment. For the majority of victims, shelter in a confidential safe house
7 is a last resort, and, in fact, unnecessary. Victims are going about
8 their lives, working, and taking care of their children, as they are
9 making plans and determining their next steps to safely leave their
10 abuser. Many victims are able to access counseling services and obtain
11 legal assistance, such as securing a restraining order, without entering
12 into a safe house. For these victims, a wireless telephone serves as a
13 critical tool for making appointments and communicating with their advo-
14 cates.
15 (b) Allowing a victim of domestic violence to retain the use of an
16 existing wireless telephone number and access to the contacts and other
17 information that may be contained in an existing wireless telephone is
18 important for both the safety and emotional support of the victim. This
19 can be a problem if the domestic violence victim is not the accounthold-
20 er for the wireless telephone, as only an accountholder has the authori-
21 ty to release the telephone number or numbers contained in the account.
22 (c) According to a Wall Street Journal article, in 2011 just under 71
23 percent of households had a landline in the home, down from a little
24 more than 96 percent of households 15 years earlier. Cellular telephone
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15629-01-6
S. 7931 2
1 ownership among adults reached 89 percent in 2011, up from approximately
2 36 percent in 1998.
3 (d) A 2014 National Public Radio Survey of 72 shelters in large cities
4 and smaller towns across the nation found that 85 percent of the shel-
5 ters worked directly with victims whose abusers tracked the victims
6 using GPS. Seventy-five percent of the shelters worked with victims
7 whose abusers eavesdropped on their conversations remotely by using
8 hidden mobile applications.
9 § 2. The family court act is amended by adding a new section 848 to
10 read as follows:
11 § 848. Transfer of wireless telephone accounts. (a) In order to ensure
12 that the petitioner can maintain an existing wireless telephone number,
13 and the wireless numbers of any minor children in the care of the peti-
14 tioner, the court may issue an order, after notice and a hearing,
15 directing a wireless telephone service provider to transfer the billing
16 responsibility for and rights to the wireless telephone number or
17 numbers to the petitioner, if the petitioner is not the accountholder.
18 (b) (i) The order transferring billing responsibility for and rights
19 to the wireless telephone number or numbers to a petitioner shall be a
20 separate order that is directed to the wireless telephone service
21 provider. The order shall list the name and billing telephone number of
22 the accountholder, the name and contact information of the person to
23 whom the telephone number or numbers will be transferred, and each tele-
24 phone number to be transferred to that person. The court shall ensure
25 that the contact information of the petitioner is not provided to the
26 accountholder in proceedings held pursuant to this article.
27 (ii) The order shall be served on the wireless service provider's
28 agent for service of process listed with the secretary of state.
29 (iii) Where the wireless service provider cannot operationally or
30 technically effectuate the order due to certain circumstances, includ-
31 ing, but not limited to, any of the following, the wireless service
32 provider shall notify the petitioner within seventy-two hours of receipt
33 of the order:
34 (1) When the accountholder has already terminated the account.
35 (2) When differences in network technology prevent the functionality
36 of a device on the network.
37 (3) When there are geographic or other limitations on network or
38 service availability.
39 (c) (i) Upon transfer of billing responsibility for and rights to a
40 wireless telephone number or numbers to a petitioner pursuant to subdi-
41 vision (b) of this section by a wireless telephone service provider, the
42 petitioner shall assume all financial responsibility for the transferred
43 wireless telephone number or numbers, monthly service costs, and costs
44 for any mobile device associated with the wireless telephone number or
45 numbers.
46 (ii) This section shall not preclude a wireless service provider from
47 applying any routine and customary requirements for account establish-
48 ment to the petitioner as part of this transfer of billing responsibil-
49 ity for a wireless telephone number or numbers and any devices attached
50 to that number or numbers, including, but not limited to, identifica-
51 tion, financial information, and customer preferences.
52 (d) This section shall not affect the ability of the court to appor-
53 tion the assets and debts of the parties as provided for in law, or the
54 ability to determine the temporary use, possession, and control of
55 personal property.
S. 7931 3
1 (e) No cause of action shall lie against any wireless telephone
2 service provider, its officers, employees, or agents, for actions taken
3 in accordance with the terms of a court order issued pursuant to this
4 section.
5 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
6 ing the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however,
7 that effective immediately the chief administrator of the courts is
8 authorized to promulgate any and all rules and regulations and to take
9 any other measures necessary to implement this act on or before such
10 effective date.
