Alaska Telemarketing and Robocall Laws: Statutes, Rules, and How They Differ from the TCPA

Overview

Alaska regulates telephone sales in two places. The first is AS 45.50.475, part of the Alaska Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (UTPA). It makes three kinds of calls unlawful: telephone solicitations to numbers on the national do-not-call registry, solicitations to customers who have asked the caller not to call, and any call that "originates a telephone call using an automated or recorded message as a telephonic advertisement or a telephone solicitation." The second is the Alaska Telephonic Solicitations Act, AS 45.63.010 to 45.63.100. It requires telephone sellers to register each solicitation campaign with the Department of Law at least 30 days in advance, requires a signed written contract before payment, sets a 15-second disclosure rule, requires the seller to hang up when the person objects, and gives buyers a seven-day refund, credit, or replacement right.

The Department of Law's Consumer Protection Unit administers both. A violation of either is an unfair or deceptive practice under AS 45.50.471(b), which opens the UTPA's remedies: a private action for the greater of three times actual damages or $500 per violation, mandatory attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff, and Attorney General civil penalties of $1,000 to $25,000 per violation. Operating an unregistered campaign, or taking payment before the written contract is received, is a class C felony.

The headline difference from federal law is Alaska's robocall rule. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) allows prerecorded telemarketing with prior express written consent. AS 45.50.475(a)(4) contains no consent exception in its text. Alaska also has no state do-not-call list of its own. It adopts the national registry directly, and the 2009 amendment extended the do-not-call protection to cellular and mobile telephones.

Key statutes and regulations

Detailed provisions

1. AS 45.50.475: do-not-call and robocalls

The prohibitions

AS 45.50.475(a) provides that a person violates AS 45.50.471(b)(41) if the person:

(2) engages in the telephone solicitation of a customer whose telephone number has been registered with the national do not call registry for the minimum amount of time required by the national do not call registry before the date the call is made;

(3) engages in the telephone solicitation of a customer who has previously communicated to the telephone solicitor, or to the business enterprise or charitable organization for which the person is calling, the customer's desire not to receive telephone solicitations to that number; or

(4) originates a telephone call using an automated or recorded message as a telephonic advertisement or a telephone solicitation.

Paragraph (a)(1) was repealed in 2004 (§ 35 ch 55 SLA 2004), as was subsection (c). The statute shows those repeals on its face.

Definitions and exclusions

AS 45.50.475(g)(3) defines the "national do not call registry" as "the data base of telephone numbers of customers who do not wish to receive telephone solicitations established and maintained by the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission." A "customer" is "a telephone customer of a telecommunications company" (AS 45.50.475(g)(2)).

The central definition is AS 45.50.475(g)(4):

(A) means the solicitation by a person by telephone of a customer at the residence of the customer or on a customer's cellular or mobile telephone for the purpose of encouraging the customer to purchase property, goods, or services, or make a donation;

It "does not include":

(i) calls made in response to a request or inquiry by the called customer or communication made during a call made by the customer;

(ii) calls made by a charitable organization or volunteers on behalf of the charitable organization to a member of the organization or to a person who, within the last 18 months, has made a donation to the organization or expressed an interest in making a donation, but only if the charitable organization has not received a request from the member or person asking that the telephone solicitations cease;

(iii) calls limited to soliciting the expression of ideas, opinions, or votes;

(iv) business-to-business calls; or

The fifth exclusion is Alaska's established business relationship rule. It covers "a person soliciting business from prospective purchasers who have, within the last 18 months, purchased from the person making the solicitation or from the business enterprise for which the person is calling but only if the person or business enterprise has not received a request from the prospective purchaser asking that telephone solicitations cease." A mailed written request is presumed received "no later than 10 days after the prospective purchaser mailed it." (AS 45.50.475(g)(4)(B)(v).) Unlike the federal rule, there is no three-month inquiry prong.

Two points about scope. First, the definition covers donation requests, so charitable solicitations are within the do-not-call rules unless one of the charitable exclusions applies. Second, the solicitation must be "by telephone"; the statute does not mention text messages.

The automated and recorded message ban

AS 45.50.475(a)(4) is not limited to solicitations. It reaches a call using an automated or recorded message "as a telephonic advertisement or a telephone solicitation." The statute defines "telephone solicitation" but not "telephonic advertisement," and the text contains no exception for prior consent. On the statutory text, political, survey, and informational calls that are neither advertisements nor solicitations appear to fall outside it, and calls "limited to soliciting the expression of ideas, opinions, or votes" are excluded from the definition of telephone solicitation. Whether the (g)(4)(B) exclusions (for example, calls responding to the customer's request, business-to-business calls, and calls to recent purchasers) also limit the term "telephonic advertisement" is not addressed in the text, and no reported decision resolving the question was located.

The Department of Law's telemarketer registration page summarizes the rule the same way: "It is a violation of the Consumer Protection Act for a person to call a consumer who is registered with the do not call registry, to call a consumer who has previously told the business or charitable organization that they do not wish to be solicited, or to originate a call using an automated or recorded message as an advertisement or solicitation."

Alaska has no autodialer definition. The ban turns on the use of an "automated or recorded message," not on how the number was dialed, so the Supreme Court's construction of the federal automatic telephone dialing system definition in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021) does not narrow it.

Defenses for do-not-call violations

AS 45.50.475(d) gives an employer of telephone solicitors a defense to the do-not-call prohibitions in (a)(1) to (3) if the employer establishes that it "has adopted and implemented written procedures and policies" to comply with those paragraphs, "including corrective actions if appropriate," that it trained its personnel, that the call was made contrary to those procedures, and that the call "was made as a result of a good faith error." (AS 45.50.475(d)(2) to (4).) Under AS 45.50.475(e), an individual caller is not liable "if the individual establishes that the individual did not intend to make the call in violation of this section and did not recklessly disregard information or policies and procedures that would have avoided the improper call." Neither defense applies to the automated or recorded message ban in (a)(4).

Directory and carrier notice provisions

Local exchange companies must identify in the telephone directory "those residential customers who do not wish to receive telephone solicitations" and may charge a reasonable fee approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (AS 45.50.475(b)). Carriers must inform customers of the section by "quarterly inserts in the billing statements mailed to customers" and publication in directory consumer pages (AS 45.50.475(f)).

2. The Alaska Telephonic Solicitations Act, AS 45.63

Who must register

AS 45.63.010(a) provides:

(a) A person may not sell or attempt to sell property or services by telephonic means if the person makes substantially the same offer on substantially the same terms to two or more persons, unless the telephone seller is registered with the Department of Law at least 30 days before the solicitation campaign.

"Telephonic means" (AS 45.63.100(6)) is broad. It "means a telephone or another method using telephone lines, and includes a facsimile machine and electronic communication between electronic computing devices; 'telephonic means' includes a letter, postcard, notice, or other written communication advising, requesting, motivating, or otherwise encouraging a person to contact a seller by telephonic means." The Act therefore reaches inbound campaigns driven by mail and arguably electronic messages, not only outbound calls.

Registration is by campaign: "a separate notice of intent shall be filed for each solicitation campaign" (AS 45.63.010(b)(1)). The seller must also file a consent appointing the department as agent for service of process and "a signed statement that the person has read and will comply with this chapter and the regulations adopted under this chapter." (AS 45.63.010(b)(2), (3).) Registration "is not complete until the telephone seller receives an acknowledgement from the department" (AS 45.63.010(c)).

The fee is set by regulation. Under 9 AAC 14.060(a), "The fee to register under AS 45.63.010 as a telephone seller is $200." The notice of intent must be accompanied by, among other things, "the script containing the required representations under AS 45.63.045" and "a sample of the written contract required under AS 45.63.020" (9 AAC 14.010(b)). Material changes must be reported "within 10 days," and salesperson changes "must be updated by addendum every 90 days after the telephonic seller registration form is filed." (9 AAC 14.020.)

Required and prohibited representations

AS 45.63.045 provides:

(a) A telephone seller shall

(1) within the first 15 seconds of a call and in a clear and conspicuous manner, disclose the registered seller's name and telephone number, whom the registered seller represents, and that the call is a sales call; and

(2) repeat the information at any time during the conversation if requested by a person at the number called.

(b) A telephone seller must terminate the telephone solicitation and promptly disconnect the telephone line if the person receiving the call objects to the solicitation or indicates that the person is not interested in the product or service that is the subject of the solicitation.

(c) A telephone seller who makes a telephonic solicitation may not cause a telephone to ring repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass a person at the telephone number called or repeatedly engage a person in a telephone conversation.

AS 45.63.040 bars a seller, unless asked, from stating or implying that it has "a license, consent, or other form of permission from the state," and bars any statement that "the seller's compliance with the laws of this state or a municipality constitutes approval or endorsement by the state or municipality."

Written contract

AS 45.63.020 provides:

Until a telephone seller receives from a buyer a signed, written contract for the purchase, the telephone seller may not solicit payment for the purchase, charge a credit card account for the purchase, negotiate a check or other commercial instrument intended for payment of the purchase, or accept a cash payment for the purchase. The written contract must notify the buyer of the rights of the buyer under AS 45.63.030 (a) and disclose the information required by the department by regulation.

Refund, credit or replacement

Under AS 45.63.030(a), a telephone seller "shall give the buyer a refund, credit, or replacement, at the option of the buyer, if":

(1) the property or services purchased are defective, not as represented, or not received as promised by the seller;

(2) within seven days after receiving the purchased property, the buyer returns the purchased property and makes a written request for the refund, credit, or replacement; or

(3) within seven days after paying for the purchased services and before the services are provided, the buyer makes a written request for the refund or credit.

A purchase of property "becomes final seven days after receipt of the property" unless the buyer acts or the seller "fails to obtain the contract required by AS 45.63.020" (AS 45.63.030(c)). The buyer's rights cannot be waived: "A waiver of the rights of a buyer under this chapter is void." (AS 45.63.050.)

Exemptions

AS 45.63.080(a) exempts 19 categories from the registration, fee, written-contract, and finality provisions (AS 45.63.010, 45.63.015, 45.63.020, and 45.63.030(c) and (d)). They include regulated securities sales; licensed real estate, contractor, funeral, and insurance professionals acting within their licenses; newspaper subscriptions; registered charitable organizations and paid solicitors; qualifying book, record, and magazine sellers; cable television; businesses regulated by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska; catalog sellers; supervised financial institutions; insurers; sellers who complete the sale at a later in-person meeting; and handmade goods sold by their maker. Because the exemption list does not mention AS 45.63.030(a) and (b), 45.63.040, or 45.63.045, exempt sellers still owe the 15-second disclosure, the hang-up rule, and the seven-day refund right. The Department of Law's page says the same: even exempt entities must "Provide certain information in the first 15 seconds of the call, under AS 45.63.045(a)."

Criminal penalties

AS 45.63.060(a) provides that a person who sells or attempts to sell by telephonic means "without complying with the registration requirements of AS 45.63.010, or who solicits, or receives, payment for a purchase before receiving the written contract required by AS 45.63.020 is guilty of a class C felony." Violations of AS 45.63.030 through 45.63.050 are class A misdemeanors (AS 45.63.060(b)).

3. Calling hours and call frequency

Neither AS 45.50.475 nor AS 45.63 sets calling hours or a numeric frequency cap. The only frequency rule is the harassment-based ban in AS 45.63.045(c) on causing a phone "to ring repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass." Federal calling hours (8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time) govern.

4. Caller ID

Alaska's telemarketing statutes contain no caller ID transmission or anti-spoofing provision. The federal rules govern.

5. Private right of action and remedies

Both statutes are enforced through the UTPA. AS 45.50.471(b) lists as unfair or deceptive acts "(35) violating AS 45.63 (solicitations by telephonic means);" and "(41) failing to comply with AS 45.50.475."

AS 45.50.531(a) provides:

(a) A person who suffers an ascertainable loss of money or property as a result of another person's act or practice declared unlawful by AS 45.50.471 may bring a civil action to recover for each unlawful act or practice three times the actual damages or $500, whichever is greater. The court may provide other relief it considers necessary and proper.

The plaintiff must show "an ascertainable loss of money or property." That element has no TCPA counterpart, and whether the receipt of an unwanted call or recorded message alone satisfies it is not resolved by the statute. No reported Alaska decision applying the element to a do-not-call or recorded-message claim was located for this summary. Private injunctive relief is separately available under AS 45.50.535.

The limitations period is short: "A person may not commence an action under this section more than two years after the person discovers or reasonably should have discovered that the loss resulted from an act or practice declared unlawful by AS 45.50.471." (AS 45.50.531(f).)

Fee shifting runs in both directions. "a prevailing plaintiff shall be awarded costs as provided by court rule and full reasonable attorney fees at the prevailing reasonable rate." (AS 45.50.537(a).) A prevailing defendant receives fees "as provided by court rule," and full reasonable fees if the action was frivolous (AS 45.50.537(b)).

6. Attorney General enforcement and civil penalties

Under AS 45.50.551(b), if the court finds a person "is using or has used an act or practice declared unlawful by AS 45.50.471, the attorney general, upon petition to the court, may recover, on behalf of the state, a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $25,000 for each violation." Violating an injunction carries "a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation" (AS 45.50.551(a)). When the Attorney General prevails, the state recovers "its actual attorney fees and costs, including costs of investigation, to the extent those fees and costs are reasonable" (AS 45.50.537(d)).

How Alaska law differs from federal law

Alaska is stricter than federal law on prerecorded and automated sales messages, which its statute prohibits without a consent exception, on per-campaign registration, on the 15-second disclosure and hang-up rule, and on the signed-contract requirement. It is looser in that it imposes no calling hours, no caller ID rule, and requires an ascertainable loss for private damages, with a two-year limitations period. Its do-not-call rule is otherwise close to the federal model because it adopts the national registry. The TCPA does not preempt "more restrictive intrastate requirements" (47 U.S.C. § 227(f)(1)).

Notable case law

No reported decision construing AS 45.50.475 or AS 45.63 was located in official court sources for this summary. A federal district court in Texas quoted the pre-2009 text of AS 45.50.475(g)(4) as an example of a state statute that includes donations in its definition of "telephone solicitation," but did not construe Alaska law, and it is not discussed further.

Recent amendments

• Ch. 32, SLA 2009 (HB 93). Amended AS 45.50.475(g) so that "telephone solicitation" covers solicitation "at the residence of the customer or on a customer's cellular or mobile telephone." The act's title describes it as "making those calls to cellular or mobile telephones registered with the national do not call registry violations of the Alaska Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act."
• Ch. 55, SLA 2004. Repealed AS 45.50.475(a)(1) and (c) (§ 35), as shown in the current statute.
• 9 AAC 14.060 (the $200 fee) shows an effective date of 9/1/2004 in its history note.
• No 2023 to 2026 amendment to AS 45.50.475 or AS 45.63 was identified in the current statute text.

Practical compliance checklist

• Do not use prerecorded or automated messages for sales or advertising calls to Alaska numbers, even with consent, unless counsel concludes the facts fall outside AS 45.50.475(a)(4).
• Scrub Alaska numbers, residential and wireless, against the national registry, and maintain an internal do-not-call list that honors requests made to the seller or charity on whose behalf you call.
• Register each solicitation campaign with the Department of Law at least 30 days before it starts, pay the $200 fee, submit the script and sample contract, and wait for the department's acknowledgement.
• Script the 15-second disclosure (seller name and telephone number, whom the seller represents, and that the call is a sales call) and repeat it on request.
• Train agents to end the call and disconnect as soon as the person objects or says they are not interested.
• Do not accept or solicit payment by any method until the signed written contract is received, and include the AS 45.63.030(a) rights notice and the disclosures required by 9 AAC 14.040.
• Honor seven-day refund, credit, and replacement requests and never ask buyers to waive their rights.
• Keep written do-not-call procedures and training records to support the AS 45.50.475(d) defense.
• Observe federal calling hours and caller ID rules, since Alaska has none of its own.

References

• AS 45.50.475, Alaska Legislature: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=45.50.472&secEnd=45.50.479
• AS 45.50.471: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=45.50.471&secEnd=45.50.471
• AS 45.50.531 to 45.50.561: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=45.50.531&secEnd=45.50.561
• AS 45.63.010 to 45.63.100: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=45.63.010&secEnd=45.63.100
• 9 AAC 14.010 to 14.900: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/aac.asp?media=print&secStart=9.14.010&secEnd=9.14.900
• Ch. 32, SLA 2009 (HB 93): https://www.akleg.gov/pdf/billfiles/SLAs/sl09pdfs/CH032.pdf
• Alaska Department of Law, Telemarketer Registration: https://law.alaska.gov/consumer/telemarketreg.html
• Alaska Department of Law, Application for Telephonic Seller Registration: https://law.alaska.gov/pdf/consumer/FORM_telemarket.pdf
• 47 U.S.C. § 227: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title47/html/USCODE-2023-title47-chap5-subchapII-partI-sec227.htm
• 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200
• 16 C.F.R. Part 310: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310
• 28 U.S.C. § 1658: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title28/html/USCODE-2023-title28-partV-chap111-sec1658.htm

This page summarizes state law for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Statutes change; confirm current text with the official source before relying on it.