The Power of the Fax

In July 2005, another curious law went into effect. This one, called the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 (JFPA) has several surprises for business owners in terms of sending routine faxes to their customers. This new law just doesn't impact the sending of what we would think of as "junk" faxes. It addresses several other areas that will impact how you do business via fax. What is a Junk Fax? Understandably, we would think of a junk fax as an unsolicited fax. However, under JFPA, unsolicited is defined as "any material advertising the commercial availability or quality of any property, goods or services which is transmitted to any person without that person's prior express invitation or permission, in writing or otherwise." So, if you were sending out an announcement, via fax, regarding a new product or service to your customers, it could be considered a junk fax under JFPA. Importance of an EBR But wait, the new law complicates things even more. Your "established business relationship" (EBR) is now extremely important in terms of marketing your business using the fax. You are still allowed to send unsolicited faxes to anyone with whom you maintain an EBR. An EBR is defined as "a prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way communication between a person or entity and a residential subscriber with or without an exchange of consideration, on the basis of an inquiry, application, purchase or transaction by the residential subscriber regarding products or services offered by such person or entity, which relationship has not been previously terminated by either party." Right to "Opt-Out" You also have to provide an "opt-out" option on all faxes. Fax cover sheets are now to include "opt-out" information, regardless if your business has an EBR or not, the first page of every fax solicitation has to tell the receiver how they can "opt-out" of receiving future faxes from your company. And, we aren't talking about a simple "opt-out" check box. JFPA has kindly provided an extensive guideline for the "opt-out" notice. An "opt-out" needs: