[Ecommerce] Return of the junk fax

[Manon Ress]

Return of the Junk Fax

By DAN MITCHELL
Published: October 1, 2005

IN the hierarchy of annoying advertisers, the porn spammers and the
pump-and-dump stock promoters dwell at the bottom. Not far above them
are junk faxers, who spew unsolicited advertisements to your fax
machine, using your phone line, your ink and your paper in the process.

Most junk faxes have been illegal since 1991. Since then, a federal
law and Federal Communications Commission regulations have kept most
machines free of unsolicited ads. But that may be changing. Why?
"Because Congress just pumped new life into the junk fax industry,"
according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (epic.org),
which issued a communication on the subject this week.

This summer, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Junk Fax
Prevention Act. The "Orwellian-named" law removes one of the few
protections against fax abuse, writes Chris Jay Hoofnagle, director
for the center's West Coast office in San Francisco. In a loophole
similar to one in the Can-Spam Act, which has done essentially
nothing to stem the tide of unsolicited commercial e-mail, businesses
are allowed to junk-fax anyone with whom they have an "established
business relationship."

"In effect," Mr. Hoofnagle writes, "this means that any business that
you call or visit can fax you, even if you don't give the business
your fax number."

SNIP

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/technology/01online.ready.html?
ex=1285819200&en=2218b825b0cbd37b&ei=5090

************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology
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