Purpose: These voluntary LEC guidelines offer an array of Best Practices designed to prevent, deter, and eliminate cramming.  Definitions: Cramming: The submission or inclusion of unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges for products or services on End-user Customers' local telephone bills. Local Exchange Carrier (LEC): The local telephone company that renders the bill to the End-user Customer. Clearinghouse: Billing and collection customers that aggregate billing for their Service Provider customers and submit that billing to the LEC. Service Provider: The party that offers the product or service to the End-user Customer and directly or indirectly sends the billable charges/credits to the LEC, for billing to the End-user Customer.  The Best Practices Include: Bills should be comprehensible, complete and include information the consumer may need to discuss and, if necessary, dispute charges. Consumers should be provided with options to control whether or not a third party's products and services are charged on their telephone bills. Consumer authorization of services ordered should be appropriately verified. The LECs should screen products, services and Service Providers prior to approval for inclusion on the telephone bill. Clearinghouses should ensure that only charges that have been authorized by the End-user Customer will be billed. The LECs should continue to educate consumers as to their rights and the process for resolution of disputes. Each LEC should provide appropriate law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and other LECs with various categories of data to assist in controlling cramming.