Fax consent deadline pushed back to July 2005

From the National Newspaper Association

Newspapers do not need to begin collecting signed consent forms for customers reached by fax yet, National Newspaper Association President Mike Buffington, editor of the Jackson Herald, Jefferson, Ga., announced.

The Federal Communications Commission ruled Oct. 1 on a petition by NNA and other trade organizations in Washington that the Jan. 1, 2005, deadline for collecting signed consents would be rolled back to July 1. The purpose of the rollback is to permit Congress to consider whether the law for unsolicited commercial faxes should be changed.

The House of Representatives in June passed HR 4600, which would preserve the right to send commercial faxes to established business customers. A Senate committee has sent a similar bill, S. 2603, to the Senate floor. But the bogged-down Senate—which has stalled major actions all summer in pre-election squabbling—is now tied up considering the legislation recommended by the 9/11 Commission. It may not reach a vote on S. 2603 before the 108th Congress adjourns this year.

The Commission said the legislative action, however, had persuaded it that an extension was warranted. It also said that if Congress did not act at all, it might reconsider its ruling next summer.

Sending unsolicited commercial faxes has been illegal under FCC rules since 1991. However, businesses had broad leeway to send to established business customers, and, while the burden of proving a customer relationship falls upon the sender, could define the business relationship within broad
parameters. The legislation would restore the business relationship exception, but might set time limits similar to the business relationship limits in Do Not Call laws.

NNA has made the rollback of the consent form requirement one of its top legislative priorities for the year. NNA Regional Director Cheryl Kaechele, publisher of the Allegan County (MI) News, testified before a panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the cost of compliance would be
staggering for small newspapers.

Buffington congratulated the Commission on its sensible approach to the rollback. “None of us likes the proliferation of blast fax that soaks up our ink and wastes our fax paper,” Buffington said. “But those are illegal now. Imposing paperwork burdens upon small businesses would do nothing to stop the abusers, and would simply punish the law-abiding.”