FCC Issues Stay on New Fax Regulations

Acting on petitions filed by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and other concerned business interest organizations,
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a stay of new
regulations governing fax advertisements until January 1, 2005.
The FCC granted the stay request after receiving hundreds of comments
and
requests for interpretation from associations and other businesses over
the past several weeks regarding the rulemaking, published July 25 in
the Federal Register. ASAE and others argued that the fax regulations as
written would significantly impede the marketing strategies and basic
communications between associations and their own members. The new rules
were due to go into effect August 25, but will now be given more
deliberate consideration to determine congressional intent.
The delay will give companies time to obtain written permission from their customers and let the FCC consider the issue further, the agency said in the order.
"We believe that, in light of this new information, the public interest would best be served by allowing senders of such advertisements additional time to obtain such express permission before the new rules become effective," the FCC said. "In addition, this extension will allow the commission the opportunity to consider any petitions for reconsideration and other filings that may be made on this issue."
The FCC rejected a request from the American Teleservices Association to delay enforcement of all the changes to its telemarketing rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, including the national no-call list.