CALIFORNIA CODES BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE SECTION 17538-17538.45 17538. (a) It is unlawful in the sale or lease or offering for sale or lease of goods or services, for any person conducting sales or leases by telephone, the Internet or other electronic means of communication, mail order, or catalog in this state, including, but not limited to, the offering for sale or lease on television, radio, or the Internet, or by any other electronic means of communication or telecommunications device, of goods or services that may be ordered by mail, telephone, the Internet, or other electronic means of communication or telecommunications device, or for any person advertising in connection with those sales, leases, or advertisements a mailing address, telephone number, or Internet or other electronic address, to accept payment from or for a buyer, for the purchase or lease of goods or services ordered by mail, telephone, the Internet, or other electronic means of communication or telecommunications device, whether payment to the vendor is made directly, through the mail, by means of a transfer of funds from an account of the buyer or any other person, or by any other means, and then permit 30 days, unless otherwise conspicuously stated in the offering or advertisement, or unless a shorter time is clearly communicated by the person conducting the sale or lease, to elapse without doing any one of the following things: (1) Shipping, mailing, or providing the goods or services ordered. (2) Mailing a full refund or, if payment was made by means of a transfer from an account, (A) crediting the account in the full amount of the debit, or (B) if a third party is the creditor, issuing a credit memorandum to the third party, who shall promptly credit the account in the full amount of the debit. (3) Sending the buyer a letter or other written notice (A) advising the buyer of the duration of an expected delay expressed as a specific number of days or weeks, or proposing the substitution of goods or services of equivalent or superior quality, and (B) offering to make a full refund, in accordance with paragraph (2), within one week if the buyer so requests. The vendor shall provide to the buyer in that letter or written notice a toll-free telephone number or other cost-free method to communicate the buyer's request for a full refund. If the vendor proposes to substitute goods or services, the vendor shall describe the substitute goods or services in detail, indicating fully how the substitute differs from the goods or services ordered. (4) (A) Shipping, mailing, or providing substitute goods or services of equivalent or superior quality, if the buyer is extended the opportunity to return the substitute goods or services and the vendor promises to refund to the buyer (i) the cost of returning the substitute goods or services and (ii) any portion of the purchase price previously paid by the buyer. (B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), a notice to the buyer shall accompany the mailing, shipping, or providing of the substitute goods or services that informs the buyer of the substitution; describes fully how the substitute differs from the goods or services ordered, except that obvious nontechnical differences, such as color, need not be described; and discloses the buyer's right to reject the substitute goods or services and obtain a full refund of the amount paid, plus the cost of returning the substitute goods or services. (C) The vendor may omit from the notice required by subparagraph (B) a description of how the substitute goods or services differ from the ordered goods or services if the notice otherwise complies with subparagraph (B), and if all the following requirements are complied with: (i) The vendor maintains at least 100 retail outlets located in at least 20 counties in this state that are open to the public regularly during normal business hours where buyers can order catalog goods, pick them up, and return them for refunds. (ii) The vendor maintains a toll-free telephone number and provides to each buyer, at the time of the buyer's call, a full description of how substitute goods or services differ from ordered goods or services. The toll-free telephone number shall operate and be staffed at all times during which goods or services normally are available for pick up from the vendor's retail outlets. (iii) If the buyer picks up substitute goods or services from the vendor's retail outlet, the notice required by subparagraph (B) as modified by this subparagraph is placed on, or attached to, the exterior of the package or wrapping containing the substitute, or is handed to the buyer at the time the buyer picks up the substitute. (iv) The notice contains a reference number or some other means of identifying the ordered goods or services and the substitute goods or services. (v) The notice contains the vendor's toll-free telephone number and instructions to the buyer that the buyer may call that number to obtain a full description of how the substitute differs from the ordered goods. (b) For purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (a), goods or services shall be considered of "equivalent or superior quality" only if they are (1) substantially similar to the goods or services ordered, (2) fit for the usual purposes for which the goods or services ordered are used, and (3) normally offered by the vendor at a price equal to or greater than the price of the goods or services ordered. (c) When a buyer makes an initial application for an open-end credit plan, as defined in the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1602), at the same time the goods or services are ordered, and the goods or services are to be purchased on credit, the person conducting the business shall have 50 days, rather than 30 days, to perform the actions specified in this section. (d) A vendor conducting business through the Internet or any other electronic means of communication shall do all of the following when the transaction involves a buyer located in this state: (1) Before accepting any payment or processing any debit or credit charge or funds transfer, the vendor shall disclose to the buyer in writing or by electronic means of communication, such as E-mail or an on-screen notice, the vendor's return and refund policy, the legal name under which the business is conducted and, except as provided in paragraph (3), the complete street address from which the business is actually conducted. (2) If the disclosure of the vendor's legal name and address information required by this subdivision is made by on-screen notice, all of the following shall apply: (A) The disclosure of the legal name and address information shall appear on any of the following: (i) the first screen displayed when the vendor's electronic site is accessed, (ii) on the screen on which goods or services are first offered, (iii) on the screen on which a buyer may place the order for goods or services, or (iv) on the screen on which the buyer may enter payment information, such as a credit card account number. The communication of that disclosure shall not be structured to be smaller or less legible than the text of the offer of the goods or services. (B) The disclosure of the legal name and address information shall be accompanied by an adjacent statement describing how the buyer may receive the information at the buyer's E-mail address. The vendor shall provide the disclosure information to the buyer at the buyer's E-mail address within five days of receiving the buyer's request. (C) Until the vendor complies with subdivision (a) in connection with all buyers of the vendor's goods or services, the vendor shall make available to a buyer and any person or entity who may enforce this section pursuant to Section 17535 on-screen access to the information required to be disclosed under this subdivision. (3) The complete street address need not be disclosed as required by paragraph (1) if the vendor utilizes a private mailbox receiving service and all of the following conditions are met: (A) the vendor satisfies the conditions described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 17538.5, (B) the vendor discloses the actual street address of the private mailbox receiving service in the manner prescribed by this subdivision for the disclosure of the vendor's actual street address, and (C) the vendor and the private mailbox receiving service comply with all of the requirements of subdivisions (c) to (f), inclusive, of Section 17538.5. (e) As used in this section and Section 17538.3, the following words have the following meanings: (1) "Goods" means tangible chattels, including certificates or coupons exchangeable for those goods, and including goods which, at the time of the sale or subsequently, are to be so affixed to real property as to become a part of that real property, whether or not severable therefrom. (2) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other group, however organized. (3) "Buyer" means a person who seeks or acquires, by purchase or lease, any goods or services for any purpose. (4) "Services" means work, labor, and services, including services furnished in connection with the sale or repair of goods. (5) "Vendor" means a person who, as described in subdivision (a), vends, sells, leases, supplies, or ships goods or services, who conducts sales or leases of goods or services, or who offers goods or services for sale or lease. "Vendor" does not include a person responding to an electronic agent in connection with providing goods or services to a buyer if the aggregate amount of all transactions with the buyer does not exceed ten dollars ($10). (6) "Internet" means the global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol (IP), or its subsequent extensions, and that is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite, or its subsequent extensions, or other IP-compatible protocols, and that provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described in this paragraph. (7) "Electronic agent" means a computer program designed, selected, or programmed to initiate or respond to electronic messages or performances without review by an individual. (f) Any violation of the provisions of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. 17538.3. The provisions of Section 17538 do not apply to any of the following: (a) To instances in which all advertising for goods or services contains a notice as to each item or service offered, which, in the case of printed advertising, shall be in a type size at least as large as that indicating the price, that a delay may be expected of a specified period. In such cases, one of the events described in Section 17538 must occur no later than the expiration of the period specified in the advertisement. (b) To goods or services, such as quarterly magazines, which by their nature are not ready for use or consumption until a future date and for that reason cannot be stocked at the time of order. (c) To installments other than the first of goods, such as magazine subscriptions, ordered for serial delivery. (d) To any telecommunications goods and services sold by a telecommunications company, except those telecommunications goods and services purchased for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. (e) To financial services offered in the ordinary course of business by a supervised bank, national banking association, bank holding company, a state or federal savings and loan association, a state or federal credit union, or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof, or an authorized industrial loan company, a licensed personal property broker, a licensed consumer finance lender, a licensed commercial finance lender, or a person licensed pursuant to Division 4 (commencing with Section 10000). (f) To any delay in delivery of goods or services caused by the United States Post Office, an act of God, or a labor strike by the vendor's employees. 17538.4. (a) No person or entity conducting business in this state shall facsimile (fax) or cause to be faxed, or electronically mail (e-mail) or cause to be e-mailed, documents consisting of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit unless: (1) In the case of a fax, that person or entity establishes a toll-free telephone number that a recipient of the unsolicited faxed documents may call to notify the sender not to fax the recipient any further unsolicited documents. (2) In the case of e-mail, that person or entity establishes a toll-free telephone number or valid sender operated return e-mail address that the recipient of the unsolicited documents may call or e-mail to notify the sender not to e-mail any further unsolicited documents. (b) All unsolicited faxed or e-mailed documents subject to this section shall include a statement informing the recipient of the toll-free telephone number that the recipient may call, or a valid return address to which the recipient may write or e-mail, as the case may be, notifying the sender not to fax or e-mail the recipient any further unsolicited documents to the fax number, or numbers, or e-mail address, or addresses, specified by the recipient. In the case of faxed material, the statement shall be in at least nine-point type. In the case of e-mail, the statement shall be the first text in the body of the message and shall be of the same size as the majority of the text of the message. (c) Upon notification by a recipient of his or her request not to receive any further unsolicited faxed or e-mailed documents, no person or entity conducting business in this state shall fax or cause to be faxed or e-mail or cause to be e-mailed any unsolicited documents to that recipient. (d) In the case of e-mail, this section shall apply when the unsolicited e-mailed documents are delivered to a California resident via an electronic mail service provider's service or equipment located in this state. For these purposes "electronic mail service provider" means any business or organization qualified to do business in this state that provides individuals, corporations, or other entities the ability to send or receive electronic mail through equipment located in this state and that is an intermediary in sending or receiving electronic mail. (e) As used in this section, "unsolicited e-mailed documents" means any e-mailed document or documents consisting of advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit that meet both of the following requirements: (1) The documents are addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship. (2) The documents are not sent at the request of, or with the express consent of, the recipient. (f) As used in this section, "fax" or "cause to be faxed" or "e-mail" or "cause to be e-mailed" does not include or refer to the transmission of any documents by a telecommunications utility or Internet service provider to the extent that the telecommunications utility or Internet service provider merely carries that transmission over its network. (g) In the case of e-mail that consists of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit, the subject line of each and every message shall include "ADV:" as the first four characters. If these messages contain information that consists of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit, that may only be viewed, purchased, rented, leased, or held in possession by an individual 18 years of age and older, the subject line of each and every message shall include "ADV:ADLT" as the first eight characters. (h) An employer who is the registered owner of more than one e-mail address may notify the person or entity conducting business in this state e-mailing or causing to be e-mailed, documents consisting of unsolicited advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit of the desire to cease e-mailing on behalf of all of the employees who may use employer-provided and employer-controlled e-mail addresses. (i) This section, or any part of this section, shall become inoperative on and after the date that federal law is enacted that prohibits or otherwise regulates the transmission of unsolicited advertising by electronic mail (e-mail). 17538.45. (a) For purposes of this section, the following words have the following meanings: (1) "Electronic mail advertisement" means any electronic mail message, the principal purpose of which is to promote, directly or indirectly, the sale or other distribution of goods or services to the recipient. (2) "Unsolicited electronic mail advertisement" means any electronic mail advertisement that meets both of the following requirements: (A) It is addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship. (B) It is not sent at the request of or with the express consent of the recipient. (3) "Electronic mail service provider" means any business or organization qualified to do business in California that provides registered users the ability to send or receive electronic mail through equipment located in this state and that is an intermediary in sending or receiving electronic mail. (4) "Initiation" of an unsolicited electronic mail advertisement refers to the action by the initial sender of the electronic mail advertisement. It does not refer to the actions of any intervening electronic mail service provider that may handle or retransmit the electronic message. (5) "Registered user" means any individual, corporation, or other entity that maintains an electronic mail address with an electronic mail service provider. (b) No registered user of an electronic mail service provider shall use or cause to be used that electronic mail service provider's equipment located in this state in violation of that electronic mail service provider's policy prohibiting or restricting the use of its service or equipment for the initiation of unsolicited electronic mail advertisements. (c) No individual, corporation, or other entity shall use or cause to be used, by initiating an unsolicited electronic mail advertisement, an electronic mail service provider's equipment located in this state in violation of that electronic mail service provider's policy prohibiting or restricting the use of its equipment to deliver unsolicited electronic mail advertisements to its registered users. (d) An electronic mail service provider shall not be required to create a policy prohibiting or restricting the use of its equipment for the initiation or delivery of unsolicited electronic mail advertisements. (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict the rights of an electronic mail service provider under Section 230(c)(1) of Title 47 of the United States Code, or any decision of an electronic mail service provider to permit or to restrict access to or use of its system, or any exercise of its editorial function. (f) (1) In addition to any other action available under law, any electronic mail service provider whose policy on unsolicited electronic mail advertisements is violated as provided in this section may bring a civil action to recover the actual monetary loss suffered by that provider by reason of that violation, or liquidated damages of fifty dollars ($50) for each electronic mail message initiated or delivered in violation of this section, up to a maximum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per day, whichever amount is greater. (2) In any action brought pursuant to paragraph (1), the court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing party. (3) (A) In any action brought pursuant to paragraph (1), the electronic mail service provider shall be required to establish as an element of its cause of action that prior to the alleged violation, the defendant had actual notice of both of the following: (i) The electronic mail service provider's policy on unsolicited electronic mail advertising. (ii) The fact that the defendant's unsolicited electronic mail advertisements would use or cause to be used the electronic mail service provider's equipment located in this state. (B) In this regard, the Legislature finds that with rapid advances in Internet technology, and electronic mail technology in particular, Internet service providers are already experimenting with embedding policy statements directly into the software running on the computers used to provide electronic mail services in a manner that displays the policy statements every time an electronic mail delivery is requested. While the state of the technology does not support such a finding at present, the Legislature believes that, in a given case at some future date, a showing that notice was supplied via electronic means between the sending and receiving computers could be held to constitute actual notice to the sender for purposes of this paragraph. (4) A violation of this section shall not be subject to Section 17534.