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).
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.
A combination of these factors was likely the impetus behind the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 USC 227), or TCPA, which 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.
It is acceptable for an advertiser to send marketing material by fax if the recipient has agreed to receive it in advance.
External links
- Junkfax.org (http://www.junkfax.org) - much information on junk faxing, including how to claim for damages, and info on notorious junk fax senders
- 47 USC 227 (http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html) at Cornell
- Missouri v. American Blast Fax (http://www.spamlaws.com/cases/blastfax.html) - example legal challenge
- FaxRecoverySystems.com (http://www.faxrecoverysystems.com) - how to hit the junk fax spammers in the pocketbook by putting a "junkyard dog" to work against them.