	The Junk Fax Prevention Act

President Bush signed S. 714 , the Junk Fax Prevention Act ("the act" or JFPA), on July 9, 2005. On April 5, 2006, the FCC adopted its final rules in this proceeding. These rules
codified an exemption to the fax rules to allow fax advertisements to be sent to parties with whom the sender has an EBR and provided a definition of an EBR to be used in the context of sending fax advertisements; required that, even in the case of an EBR, a person sending a fax advertisement must obtain the fax number directly from the recipient or ensure that the recipient voluntarily agreed to make the number available for public distribution; required the sender of fax advertisements to provide clear and conspicuous notice and contact information on the first page of a fax that allows recipients to "opt-out" of future fax transmissions from the sender; required senders to honor opt-out requests within the shortest reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days; determined not to exempt small businesses or nonprofit trade associations from the rules; and clarified the term "unsolicited advertisement." In this proceeding, the FCC did not address whether there should be a time limit on the duration of an EBR, although the act allows the FCC to revisit that issue at another time. The FCC's Junk Fax Fact Sheet is available online at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/unwantedfaxes.html . FCC Annual Report on JFPA Enforcement

As required by the JFPA, in January 2007, the FCC released its first annual report on junk fax enforcement. GAO Activity

As required under the JFPA, on April 5, 2006, the GAO submitted its report to Congress on the FCC's enforcement of the junk fax law.
On July 9, 2005, President Bush signed S. 714, the Junk Fax Prevention Act ("the act" or JFPA) (P.L. 109-21) and on April 5, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued its final rules in the related proceeding. These rules
provided an established business relationship (EBR) exemption to the prohibition on sending unsolicited facsimile advertisements; provided a definition of an EBR to be used in the context of unsolicited facsimile advertisements; required the sender of a facsimile advertisement to provide specified notice and contact information on the facsimile that allows recipients to "opt-out" of any future facsimile transmissions from the sender; and specified the circumstances under which a request to "opt-out" complied with the JFPA.
Also, the rules required that small businesses and nonprofits adhere to the rules and clarified the term "unsolicited advertisement." The FCC did not address whether there should be a time limit on the duration of an EBR. The rules in their entirety became effective on August 1, 2006.
On April 5, 2006, in accordance with the JFPA, the GAO submitted a report to Congress on the FCC's enforcement of the junk fax law.
On January 4, 2007, in accordance with the JFPA, the FCC released its first annual report on the enforcement of its junk fax rules.
The FCC's Junk Fax Fact Sheet is available online at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/unwantedfaxes.html.