Junk fax

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Junk faxes are unsolicited advertising via fax transmission. Junk faxes are the faxed equivalent of spam.

Unsolicited advertising or sales via the telephone, known as cold calling, has been a common practice for decades. When fax technology became common, it must have seemed a logical next step to some to start sending "cold faxes" to publicly available fax numbers (companies and sometimes individuals generally indicate their fax number on business stationery and other materials).

Adding to the inconvenience faced by both fax machine owners and non-owners alike was the practice employed by some junk fax operators of calling random telephone numbers in the hopes of discovering new fax machines, which would then be added to their database. The practice resulted in large numbers of calls to voice telephones in which a person would answer their phone only to hear fax transmission tones.

However, early fax was a fairly slow medium, requiring a tie-up of a phone line for up to 2 minutes. Furthermore, faxes require the consumption of fax paper, a commodity paid for by the recipient (and early fax technology required specialized paper). Unlike cold calls, which can be quickly terminated, fax advertising does not announce itself; and early termination, when possible, still wastes resources.

Contents 1 United States 2 Canada 3 References 4 External links

United States

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (47 USC 227), or TCPA, among other things specifically outlawed junk faxing:

the use of any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine (paragraph (b)(1)(C))

The law provides for a minimum $500 restitution for a fax transmission deemed illegal under the Act. However, junk faxes generally break other rules mandated by the TCPA, such as requiring a fax transmitter to identify the source phone number and transmitting organization or individual on each page. Such additional infractions amplify the damages awarded. Furthermore, many states also have their own junk fax laws, which can increase total restitution for a single junk fax even further.

The TCPA, in particular the junk fax provision, has been challenged on First Amendment grounds, but the law has withstood legal challenges.

Nonetheless, most businesses with fax machines regularly receive junk faxes. While the variety of services being touted is theoretically limitless, penny stocks (so-called "pump and dump" operations) and travel "deals" are among the most common.

It is acceptable for an advertiser to send marketing material by fax if the recipient has agreed to receive it in advance.

In 2005, the United States Congress passed the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 which amended the TCPA. The text of the law allows advertisements if (among other things):

the unsolicited advertisement is from a sender with an established business relationship with the recipient(paragraph (b)(1)(C)(i))

similar to the exemptions left to telephone solicitations by the TCPA.

Canada

Unsolicited faxes are regulated by the CRTC and must follow certain guidelines, but there is no individual right to sue the senders.Template:Ref Information on the rules of telemarketing faxes in Canada can be found in the Order CRTC 2001-193. Optionaly, individuals may enroll in Canadian Marketing Association's do-not-call list which covers mail, voice and fax, lasting 3 years. The list, however, is followed voluntarily by businesses and is not enforceable by law.

References

• Template:Note junkfax.org

External links

• Junkfax.org - much information on junk faxing, including how to claim for damages, and info on notorious junk fax senders
• 47 USC 227 at Cornell
• Missouri v. American Blast Fax - example legal challenge
• SaturatedFax.com - A site where you may assign you TCPA claims and get paid US$50.00 for each one.
• FaxRecoverySystems.com - how to hit the junk fax spammers in the pocketbook by putting a "junkyard dog" to work against them.