The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2024 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Title 9 : Commerce and Trade
Chapter 067 : Pay-per-Call Services
(Cite as: 9 V.S.A. § 2508)-
§ 2508. Children’s program services
(a) It shall be an unlawful practice for a sponsor to sell or offer for sale pay-per-call services directed at children age 12 or under.
(b) The advertisement or promotion of pay-per-call services on television during a time slot used by television stations to air programming for children age 12 or under shall give rise to a rebuttable presumption of a violation of this section.
(c) It shall be an unlawful practice for a sponsor to sell or offer for sale pay-per-call services directed at children under the age of 18 where the service, or any advertisement or promotion for it:
(1) contains an imperative statement, including language such as “call now” or “you must call”;
(2) contains an embedded message to call other pay-per-call numbers;
(3) requests that the caller provide his or her name, address, telephone number, or other identifying information;
(4) requests that the caller make an additional purchase in order for the complete message to be received;
(5) contains a message soliciting copies of phone bills; or
(6) requires the viewing of a television program to obtain the complete message.
(d) It shall be an unlawful practice for a sponsor to sell or offer for sale pay-per-call services directed at children under the age of 18 unless the sponsor provides a full credit upon request for any call by a child that was not authorized by the child’s parent.
(e) It shall be an unlawful practice for a sponsor to sell or offer for sale pay-per-call services directed at children under the age of 18 for which the total charges per call to the customer exceed $4.00. (Added 1993, No. 99, § 2.)
