Free Republic

SACRAMENTO – A federal judge on Tuesday declared much of California's ban on junk faxes unconstitutional, leaving business and home phone lines at the mercy of most unwanted sales pitches. While expressing sympathy with Californians deluged by faxes, Judge Morrison England Jr. ruled that federal law bars the state from regulating messages sent from outside its borders. “The court recognizes that unsolicited advertisements transmitted via facsimile machines cost recipients untold resources in the form of time and money,” England said in his 20-page decision. “Despite these realities, the court cannot unilaterally raze the legal landscape carefully cultivated by Congress,” he...

Over the course of the last few months I have received unsolicited facsimile transmissions from one particular fax blaster. The number for removal and the number to fax back the advertisements for health insurance, mortgages, hot leads, selling my business and so on is also in my area code. The telephone number is not serviced by the local exchange carrier (Verizon) but a competing local exchange carrier (CLEC) After the first fax on August 7th I called the ‘removal’ number on the fax but it was busy. I tried about six times but it was always busy. I used nanpa.com...

Some of the bills signed Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: STUDENT ATHLETES - Bars students participating in high school sports from using certain dietary supplements. VIOLENT VIDEOS - Prohibits the sale or rental of extremely violent video games to minors. CIGARETTES - Bans the sale of cigarettes that do not meet fire-safety standards designed to extinguish them when they're not being puffed. HUNTING - Prohibits use of Internet sites designed to allow people to shoot at animals by clicking a button on a computer mouse. VIOLENT DOGS - Allows cities and counties to require spaying or neutering of certain breeds...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Communications Commission issued a record fine of nearly $5.4 million Wednesday against a company for sending "junk faxes" to businesses and consumers. The fine against Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fax.com is the largest ever by the commission for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The law protects against unsolicited faxes, telemarketing calls and prerecorded messages, among other things. "Fax.com appears to have founded its business on the practice of sending unsolicited faxes in flagrant violation" of the law, Kathleen Q. Abernathy, an FCC commissioner, said in statement. "Despite repeated warnings from the commission and numerous...

Court Victory for Unsolicited Fax Advertising April 01, 2002 By: Scott Hovanyetz Senior Reporter scotth@dmnews.com The government's ban on unsolicited fax advertising is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit by the state of Missouri against a company accused of issuing "junk faxes," the American Teleservices Association said last week. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, located in St. Louis, ruled against the Missouri Attorney General's office in its suit against American Blast Fax, a Texas firm that has been the subject of much litigation concerning its fax advertising activities. In June 2000, Missouri accused...