The House has voted to relax Federal Communications Commission regulations that restrict the transmission of unsolicited commercial faxes.
“To our delight the bill passed pretty quickly,” said Jim Conway, vice president of government relations for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). “It was backed by a very broad coalition of businesses including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the real estate industry.”
According to news reports, the bill, sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, (R-MI) would overturn FCC rules requiring the senders of commercial faxes to get prior written approval from recipients unless there was an existing business relationship. This bill scuttles that provision.
A similar bill, S-2603, sponsored by Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), is being considered by the Senate Commerce Committee. Conway noted that the Senate bill is identical but said the DMA is concerned it might have amendments requiring some sort of existing business relationship.
“Under the FCC rules, a real estate agent for example would have to get written permission from a recipient before sending a fax while he really wants everything sent right away,” said Conway.
Companies and associations that rely on faxes to solicit business or communicate with members or clients have lobbied heavily to overturn the FCC rules, which they say would create new costs and paperwork and jeopardize efficient customer service.
The 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits the sending of unsolicited advertisements to fax machines. Under an existing interpretation of the law, written permission for unsolicited faxes is not required if the recipients already do business with the organization sending the fax.
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