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WASHINGTON – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is praising Congress for its work on the Junk Fax Prevention Act (S. 714), which will exempt small businesses that could have been adversely impacted by the Federal Communications Commission’s ban on junk faxes.
Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Junk Fax Prevention Act. The U.S. Senate passed S. 714 by unanimous consent last week, and the bill will now go to President Bush for his signature.
The legislation maintains that an “established business relationship” is a valid exception to the FCC ban on unsolicited commercial faxes. Unsolicited commercial faxes will have to include an opt-out provision on the first page of the fax and provide a cost-free, 24/7 means for the recipient to request to be removed from the fax distribution list.
“The Junk Fax Prevention Act provides small business with a fair alternative to the FCC’s fax ban regulations. Small-business owners can continue to conduct business via fax, and recipients of unwanted faxes have an extremely simple opt-out provision available to them, ” said Dan Danner, executive vice president of NFIB.
The FCC’s fax ban regulations are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2005, and would make it unlawful to send a fax with commercial content to anyone without first obtaining signed written consent. Without S. 714, businesses would no longer be able to fax material based on the common-sense understanding that the recipient is a customer.
“It would be extremely difficult for a small-business owner to ensure that all faxes sent out are in compliance with the FCC regulation. The Junk Fax Prevention Act is a fair compromise that recognizes and respects the needs of both the general public and small-business owners. NFIB applauds Congress for passing this much-needed legislation that will protect small business from burdensome regulation and urges the president to quickly sign S. 714 into law,” Danner said.
The National Federation of Independent Business is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943. NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals.