The Federal Communications Commission has extended for 16 months
the deadline to comply with its recent ruling on unsolicited faxes.
The FCC announced last month that, as of Aug. 25, anyone sending
advertising faxes must have the recipient’s written, signed consent
for such transmissions.
The ruling caught many by surprise and prompted petitions to the
FCC from the American Society of Association Executives, the
National Association of Realtors, the National Association of
Business Political Action Committees and the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.
Organizations said the FCC had not given the affected businesses
enough time to obtain the necessary consents from their
customers.
The Business Users Coalition, joined by the American Society of
Travel Agents and the National Tour Association, also filed a
petition with the FCC over the ruling.
In its petition, ASTA said it requested a six-month stay to
protect thousands of travel agencies and small businesses.
The FCC extension granted last week sets a new compliance
deadline of Jan. 1, 2005.
Until then, the FCC said, unsolicited advertisements may
continue to be faxed to individuals and businesses if the sender
has an established business relationship with the receiver.
The FCC said the extension is designed to allow organizations
adequate time to comply with the ruling.
“In addition, this extension will allow the commission the
opportunity to consider any new petitions for reconsideration and
other filings that may be made on this issue,” it said in a
statement.
FCC-approved fax permission forms are posted at
www.astanet.com.
www.fcc.gov.
