Last week, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules in order to employ the conditions of the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005. The FCC said that so long as businesses have an established business relationship with people they send faxes to, they can continue to send them fax advertisements, with some restrictions.
Under the act, regulations on unsolicited commercial faxes were required to be in place by April 5. The act amends section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 regarding unsolicited fax ads.
In 2003, the FCC took on a rule that required businesses to obtain written consent in order to send fax advertisements. However, companies argued against this rule saying that it was too difficult to comply with.
The new rules take effect in July. They dictate that businesses must get fax numbers directly from the recipient or make certain that the recipient consents to making their number available for public sharing. Businesses must also offer a clear definition of an established business relationship to use regarding the sending of fax advertisements.
These ads must also inform the recipient about how they can opt out of future ads sent through their fax machine, providing clear and unambiguous contact information on the first page of the fax. Fax advertisers will then have 30 days to comply.
The FCC said that the new rules apply to large and small businesses, and also to nonprofit groups.
Source:
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