As used in this chapter:

(1) "Consumer" means a natural person who is the object of a telephone solicitation.

(2) "Established business relationship" means a relationship between the consumer and the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation call is being made based on the consumer's:

(a) purchase from, or transaction with, the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is being made within the eighteen months immediately preceding the solicitation date; or

(b) inquiry or application regarding a property, good, or service offered by the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is being made within the three months immediately preceding the solicitation date.

(3) "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, unincorporated organization, or other form of entity, however organized.

(4) "Personal relationship" means the relationship between a telephone solicitor making a telephone solicitation and a family member, friend, or acquaintance of that telephone solicitor.

(5) "Prize promotion" means:

(a) a sweepstakes or other game of chance; or

(b) an oral or written representation that a person has won, has been selected to receive, or may be eligible to receive a prize or purported prize.

(6) "Telephone solicitation" means the initiation of a telephone call, or a text or media message sent, to a natural person's residence in the State, or to a wireless telephone with a South Carolina area code, for the purpose of offering or advertising a property, good, or service for sale, lease, license, or investment, including offering or advertising an extension of credit, prize promotion, or for the purposes of obtaining information that will or may be used for the direct solicitation thereof. "Telephone solicitation" does not mean:

(a) a political campaign-related call made, or a text or media message sent, in compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. Section 227;

(b) except for the purposes of Section 37-21-70, and unless the consumer previously stated a desire not to be contacted by or on behalf of the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is being made, a telephone solicitation made to a consumer with:

(i) that consumer's prior express invitation or permission as evidenced by a signed or electronically signed, written agreement stating that the person agrees to be contacted by or on behalf of a specific party and including the telephone number to which they may be placed;

(ii) whom the person on whose behalf the telephone solicitation is made has an established business relationship; or

(iii) whom the telephone solicitor making the telephone call or sending a text message has a personal relationship; or

(c) calls by institutions licensed and regulated under Title 38.

(7) "Telephone solicitor" means a person who makes, or causes another person to make, a telephone solicitation.

(8) "Text Message" means a communication consisting of text, images, sounds, or other information that is transmitted to or from a device that is identified as the receiving or transmitting device by means of a ten-digit telephone number or N11 service code;

(a) includes a short message service (commonly referred to as "SMS") message and a multimedia message service (commonly referred to as "MMS") message; and

(b) does not include:

(i) a real-time, two-way voice or video communication; or

(ii) a message sent over an IP-enabled messaging service to another user of the same messaging service, except a message described in subitem (a).

HISTORY: 2018 Act No. 218 (H.4628), Section 1, eff May 18, 2018.