Spam fax regulations.

[Timber Loftis]

From a undisclosed legal source I know:

Late yesterday afternoon (August 18, 2003) the FCC, on it own motion, stayed the effective date of its new rules concerning facsimile advertising under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. The effective date now is January 1, 2005.

The FCC stated, based upon a number of recent filings it received, that "the public interest would best be served by allowing senders of such advertisements additional time to obtain such express (written) permission (from individuals and businesses to whom they fax advertisements) before the new rules become effective." The agency specifically reserved discretion to further extend the effective date "should circumstances warrant such action."

The Commission noted that the existing TCPA rules prohibiting the transmission of unsolicited advertisements to a telephone facsimile machine remain in effect during the pendency of the extension. Under these rules, those transmitting facsimile advertisements must have an established business relationship or prior express permission from the facsimile recipient to be in compliance.

The stay only pertains to the rules involving prior written consent. The other elements of the facsimile rules, (e.g. the requirement that any fax broadcaster having a high degree of involvement with the transmission of messages must be identified on the facsimile, along with the identification of the sender).

[antryg]

It's going to take more than Jan 1, 2005 for these ad mongers to get permission from anybody. The way that they trick people and businesses into giving out fax numbers to establish a reltionship is ludicrous. A few companies make millions of dollars a year from gullible people and all it costs them is a few dollars in bribes and favors. The rest of us get to enjoy wasted fax paper and buying new toner cartridges. It isn't the public that benefits from this.