Telephone sex services legislation

Telephone sex services are currently regulated by Part 9A of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999. The legislation was introduced to address community concerns that telephone sex lines were too easily accessed by children.

The provisions of this legislation prohibit the supply of telephone sex services where the telephone company bills the customer for the service except where:

• the customer has given their prior written agreement to telephone sex services being accessed using their telephone service
• the customer has been given a personal identification number (PIN) or some other means to limit access
• the service is supplied on the 1901 number range.

The legislation makes telephone companies liable for breaches of the legislation, but only where they bill a customer for the content of the service. The Government considers that where the telephone company is charging the customer for the content of a service it is appropriate that the telephone company take greater responsibility for the service, including whether the service is supplied in accordance with the legislation.

• Document ID: 3508 |
• Last modified: 6 February 2008, 12:18pm