FCC Amends Rules To Implement Junk Fax Prevention Act Of 2005

April 7, 2006

Washington, DC -- The Commission has adopted rules to implement the provisions of the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005. Specifically, the Commission:

  1. Codified an exemption to the fax rules to allow fax advertisements to be sent to parties with whom the sender has an established business relationship (EBR);
  2. Required that, even in the case of an EBR, a person sending a fax advertisement must obtain the fax number directly from the recipient or ensure that the recipient voluntarily agreed to make the number available for public distribution;
  3. Provided a definition of an EBR to be used in the context of sending fax advertisements;
  4. Required the sender of fax advertisements to provide clear and conspicuous notice and contact information on the first page of a fax that allows recipients to “opt-out” of future fax transmissions from the sender;
  5. Required senders to honor opt-out requests within the shortest reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days;
  6. Determined not to exempt small businesses or nonprofit trade associations from the rules; and,
  7. Clarified the term “unsolicited advertisement.”
  8. These rules become effective 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Source: FCC


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