Assembleia da República (Assembly of the Republic)
Law
Introduces the 8th amendment to Law No 5/2004, of 10 February (Electronic Communications Law), amending rules on selective call barring for value-added message-based services and audiotext services.
Under point c) of article 161 of the Constitution, the Assembleia da República (the Assembly of the Republic) hereby decrees as follows:
Article 1
Purpose
This law amends Law No 5/2004, of 10 February, which establishes the legal regime applicable to electronic communications networks and services and to associated facilities and services, and defines the assignments of the regulatory authority in this field, amending selective call barring for value-added message-based services, including SMS (short message service) or MMS (multimedia messaging service), and audiotext services.
Article 2
Amendment to Law No 5/2004, of 10 February
Articles 45 and 113 of Law No 5/2004, of 10 February, as amended by Decree-Law No 176/2007, of 8 May, by Law number 35/2008, of 28 July, by Decree-Law number 123/2009, of 21 May, by Decree-Law number 258/2009, of 25 September, by Law number 46/2011, of 24 June, and by Law No 51/2011, of 13 September, which republished it, and by Law No 10/2013, of 28 January, are hereby amended to read as follows:
«Article 45
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1 - ...
2 - (Repealed.)
3 - Providers of public communications networks or publicly available electronic communications services which support the provision of value-added message-based services, including SMS (short message service) or MMS (multimedia messaging service), shall ensure that access to the following services is barred at no charge:
a) Services that involve the sending of more than one message or the sending of messages on a periodic or continuous basis; or
b) Services of an erotic or sexual content.
4 - Access to services referred to in the preceding paragraph services shall only be activated, generally or selectively, upon a written request from the respective subscribers, or another durable medium available.
5 - At the request of the respective subscribers, providers of public communications networks or of publicly available electronic communications services supporting the provision of value-added message-based services shall bar communications to such services, at no charge, regardless of any contract with the provider of such services or of its termination.
6 - For the purpose of the preceding paragraph, the barring shall take place within 24 hours from the subscriber’s request, submitted in writing or another durable medium available and easily accessible, no costs being charged for the provision of services the barring of which was requested, after this deadline.
7 - (Former paragraph 4).
8 - (Former paragraph 5).
9 - (Former paragraph 6).
Article 113
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p) Failure to comply with the barring obligation, in violation of paragraphs 1 to 6, 8 and 9 of article 45;
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Article 3
Transitional provision
The communication barring obligation provided for in paragraph 3 of article 45 shall not apply to situations where the subscriber, prior to the entry into force hereof, validly expressed his/her willingness to access services, in writing or another durable medium available, except for messages of an erotic or sexual content, where the user must confirm this willingness in writing or another durable medium available.
Article 4
Customer information duties
Until the entry into force hereof, providers of support services for value-added services shall notify all subscribers in writing about the amendment to the regime of access to value-added services and the option to request the barring of services the access to which is to be provided by default.
Article 5
Entry into force
This law shall take effect 45 days after its date of publication, except for article 4, which shall enter into force on the day following publication.
Approved on 17 May 2013.
The President of the Assembly of the Republic, Maria da Assunção A.Esteves.
Promulgated on 25 June 2013.
Let it be published.
The President of the Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
Countersigned on 26 June, 2013.
The Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho.
