# Question About Broadcast Faxes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-broadcast-faxes/234150>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 13, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-broadcast-faxes/234150 "2004-03-13T23:46:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-broadcast-faxes/234150/1 "2004-03-13T23:46:54Z")

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I get something like 5 pages of junk fax a week, all sent by the same well-known broadcast fax company. (Fortunately, my system doesn’t actually print out faxes unless I tell it to.)

Isn’t this illegal? And if so, how is this company able to openly operate in violation of the law?

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**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-broadcast-faxes/234150/2 "2004-03-14T01:58:01Z")

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There looks to be all kinds of good information about this on [junkfax.org](http://www.junkfax.org/). In theory you should be able to sue for $500 _per fax_.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-broadcast-faxes/234150/3 "2004-03-14T02:10:53Z")

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Also, talk to a Federal Attorney. It’s against Federal law to send junk faxes, and they’ll throw the book at them. The nailed Hooters over it a year or so ago and it cost them million.

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-broadcast-faxes/234150/4 "2004-03-14T02:16:03Z")

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Yep, it’s against the law **unless** the exists a pre-established business relationship between the sender and the receiver. That relationship can be pretty tenuous but can be instantly broken by the receiver telling the sender to stop.

And the penalties can be pretty sharp. I used to work for a firm that did a lot of broadcast fax marketing. But as things kept tightening up they gave up on it.

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**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-broadcast-faxes/234150/5 "2004-03-17T22:17:47Z")

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> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Also, talk to a Federal Attorney. It’s against Federal law to send junk faxes, and they’ll throw the book at them. The nailed Hooters over it a year or so ago and it cost them million.

See, that’s what I don’t understand. Tons and tons of people have received junk faxes from the company that’s been sending me faxes. You’d think a couple of them would have complained by now. And yet this company hasn’t been shut down. I don’t understand it.