Say No to Junk Fax

From my weekly (AM) radio segment titled "Legal Minute".

We all get junk fax, even if we have a home fax machine. In the spring of 2005, President Bush signed the Federal Junk Fax Prevention Act which allows organizations to fax ads to consumers and businesses with which the organization has a qualifying established business relationship. Critics of the law claim that the standard is too loose. California’s answer was a far more restrictive standard when Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed legislation that will impose significant burdens on businesses communicating with consumers via fax machines. Under the new law, unsolicited commercial faxes can be sent only with the express prior consent of the recipient. There is no exception for any established business relationship and the law applies to both intra-state and interstate faxes. There’s a fine of $500 fine for violation of the ban with triple damages for willful violation. The burden is now on the sender of unwanted faxes if they are sending to Californians. It pays to live in the golden state. The new law takes effect on January 1, 2006.