IIB 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4600
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 21, 2004
Received 
JULY 22, 2004
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation 
AN ACT 
To amend section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 
to clarify the prohibition on junk fax transmissions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Junk Fax Prevention 
Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FAX TRANSMISSIONS CONTAINING 
UNSOLICITED ADVERTISEMENTS. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—Subparagraph (C) of section 
227(b)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
227(b)(1)(C)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(C) to use any telephone facsimile ma-
chine, computer, or other device to send, to a 
telephone facsimile machine, an unsolicited ad-
vertisement, unless—
‘‘(i) the unsolicited advertisement is 
from a sender with an established business 
relationship with the recipient, and 
‘‘(ii) the unsolicited advertisement 
contains a notice meeting the requirements 
under paragraph (2)(D), 
except that the exception under clauses (i) and 
(ii) shall not apply with respect to an unsolic-
ited advertisement sent to a telephone facsimile 
machine by a sender to whom a request has 
been made not to send future unsolicited adver-
tisements to such telephone facsimile machine 
that complies with the requirements under 
paragraph (2)(E); or’’.
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(b) DEFINITION OF ESTABLISHED BUSINESS RELA-
TIONSHIP.—Subsection (a) of section 227 of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(a)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 
(4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) The term ‘established business relation-
ship’, for purposes only of subsection (b)(1)(C)(i), 
shall have the meaning given the term in section 
64.1200 of the Commission’s regulations, as in ef-
fect on January 1, 2003, except that—
‘‘(A) such term shall include a relationship 
between a person or entity and a business sub-
scriber subject to the same terms applicable 
under such section to a relationship between a 
person or entity and a residential subscriber; 
and 
‘‘(B) an established business relationship 
shall be subject to any time limitation estab-
lished pursuant to paragraph (2)(G).’’. 
(c) REQUIRED
NOTICE
OF
OPT-OUT
OPPOR-
TUNITY.—Paragraph (2) of section 227(b) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(2)) is amended—
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(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(D) shall provide that a notice contained 
in an unsolicited advertisement complies with 
the requirements under this subparagraph only 
if—
‘‘(i) the notice is clear and con-
spicuous and on the first page of the unso-
licited advertisement; 
‘‘(ii) the notice states that the recipi-
ent may make a request to the sender of 
the unsolicited advertisement not to send 
any future unsolicited advertisements to a 
telephone facsimile machine or machines 
and that failure to comply, within the 
shortest reasonable time, as determined by 
the Commission, with such a request meet-
ing the requirements under subparagraph 
(E) is unlawful;
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‘‘(iii) the notice sets forth the require-
ments for a request under subparagraph 
(E); 
‘‘(iv) the notice includes—
‘‘(I) a domestic contact telephone 
and facsimile machine number for the 
recipient to transmit such a request to 
the sender; and 
‘‘(II) a cost-free mechanism for a 
recipient to transmit a request pursu-
ant to such notice to the sender of the 
unsolicited advertisement; the Com-
mission shall by rule require the send-
er to provide such a mechanism and 
may, in the discretion of the Commis-
sion and subject to such conditions as 
the Commission may prescribe, ex-
empt certain classes of small business 
senders, but only if the Commission 
determines that the costs to such class 
are unduly burdensome given the rev-
enues generated by such small busi-
nesses; 
‘‘(v) the telephone and facsimile ma-
chine numbers and the cost-free mecha-
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nism set forth pursuant to clause (iv) per-
mit an individual or business to make such 
a request during regular business hours; 
and 
‘‘(vi) the notice complies with the re-
quirements of subsection (d);’’. 
(d) REQUEST TO OPT-OUT OF FUTURE UNSOLIC-
ITED
ADVERTISEMENTS.—Paragraph (2) of section 
227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
227(b)(2)), as amended by subsection (c) of this section, 
is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) shall provide, by rule, that a request 
not to send future unsolicited advertisements to 
a telephone facsimile machine complies with the 
requirements under this subparagraph only if—
‘‘(i) the request identifies the tele-
phone number or numbers of the telephone 
facsimile machine or machines to which the 
request relates; 
‘‘(ii) the request is made to the tele-
phone or facsimile number of the sender of 
such an unsolicited advertisement provided 
pursuant to subparagraph (D)(iv) or by
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any other method of communication as de-
termined by the Commission; and 
‘‘(iii) the person making the request 
has not, subsequent to such request, pro-
vided express invitation or permission to 
the sender, in writing or otherwise, to send 
such advertisements to such person at such 
telephone facsimile machine;’’. 
(e) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH NONPROFIT EXCEP-
TION.—Paragraph (2) of section 227(b) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(2)), as amended 
by subsections (c) and (d) of this section, is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(F) may, in the discretion of the Commis-
sion and subject to such conditions as the Com-
mission may prescribe, allow professional or 
trade associations that are tax-exempt nonprofit 
organizations to send unsolicited advertisements 
to their members in furtherance of the associa-
tion’s tax-exempt purpose that do not contain 
the notice required by paragraph (1)(C)(ii), ex-
cept that the Commission may take action 
under this subparagraph only by regulation 
issued after public notice and opportunity for
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public comment and only if the Commission de-
termines that such notice required by para-
graph (1)(C)(ii) is not necessary to protect the 
ability of the members of such associations to 
stop such associations from sending any future 
unsolicited advertisements; and’’. 
(f) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH TIME LIMIT ON ES-
TABLISHED
BUSINESS
RELATIONSHIP
EXCEPTION.—
Paragraph (2) of section 227(b) of the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(2)), as amended by sub-
sections (c), (d), and (e) of this section, is further amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(G)(i) may, consistent with clause (ii), 
limit the duration of the existence of an estab-
lished business relationship to a period not 
shorter than 5 years and not longer than 7 
years after the last occurrence of an action suf-
ficient to establish such a relationship, but only 
if—
‘‘(I) the Commission determines 
that the existence of the exception 
under paragraph (1)(C) relating to an 
established business relationship has 
resulted in a significant number of 
complaints to the Commission regard-
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ing the sending of unsolicited adver-
tisements to telephone facsimile ma-
chines; 
‘‘(II) upon review of such com-
plaints referred to in subclause (I), 
the Commission has reason to believe 
that a significant number of such 
complaints involve unsolicited adver-
tisements that were sent on the basis 
of an established business relationship 
that was longer in duration than the 
Commission believes is consistent with 
the reasonable expectations of con-
sumers; 
‘‘(III) the Commission deter-
mines that the costs to senders of 
demonstrating the existence of an es-
tablished business relationship within 
a specified period of time do not out-
weigh the benefits to recipients of es-
tablishing a limitation on such estab-
lished business relationship; and 
‘‘(IV) the Commission determines 
that, with respect to small businesses, 
the costs are not unduly burdensome,
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given the revenues generated by small 
businesses, and taking into account 
the number of specific complaints to 
the Commission regarding the sending 
of unsolicited advertisements to tele-
phone facsimile machines by small 
businesses; and 
‘‘(ii) may not commence a proceeding to 
determine whether to limit the duration of the 
existence of an established business relationship 
before the expiration of the 3-year period that 
begins on the date of the enactment of the 
Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004.’’. 
(g) UNSOLICITED ADVERTISEMENT.—Paragraph (5) 
of section 227(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 227(a)(4)), as so redesignated by subsection (b)(1) 
of this section, is amended by inserting ‘‘, in writing or 
otherwise’’ before the period at the end. 
(h) REGULATIONS.—Except as provided in clause (ii) 
of section 227(b)(2)(G) of the Communications Act of 
1934 (as added by subsection (f) of this section), not later 
than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Federal Communications Commission shall issue regu-
lations to implement the amendments made by this sec-
tion.
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SEC. 3. FCC ANNUAL REPORT REGARDING JUNK FAX EN-
FORCEMENT. 
Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 227) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection:
‘‘(g) JUNK FAX ENFORCEMENT REPORT.—The Com-
mission shall submit a report to the Congress for each 
year regarding the enforcement of the provisions of this 
section relating to sending of unsolicited advertisements 
to telephone facsimile machines, which shall include the 
following information: 
‘‘(1) The number of complaints received by the 
Commission during such year alleging that a con-
sumer received an unsolicited advertisement via tele-
phone facsimile machine in violation of the Commis-
sion’s rules. 
‘‘(2) The number of such complaints received 
during the year on which the Commission has taken 
action. 
‘‘(3) The number of such complaints that re-
main pending at the end of the year. 
‘‘(4) The number of citations issued by the 
Commission pursuant to section 503 during the year 
to enforce any law, regulation, or policy relating to 
sending of unsolicited advertisements to telephone 
facsimile machines.
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‘‘(5) The number of notices of apparent liability 
issued by the Commission pursuant to section 503 
during the year to enforce any law, regulation, or 
policy relating to sending of unsolicited advertise-
ments to telephone facsimile machines. 
‘‘(6) For each such notice—
‘‘(A) the amount of the proposed forfeiture 
penalty involved; 
‘‘(B) the person to whom the notice was 
issued; 
‘‘(C) the length of time between the date 
on which the complaint was filed and the date 
on which the notice was issued; and 
‘‘(D) the status of the proceeding. 
‘‘(7) The number of final orders imposing for-
feiture penalties issued pursuant to section 503 dur-
ing the year to enforce any law, regulation, or policy 
relating to sending of unsolicited advertisements to 
telephone facsimile machines. 
‘‘(8) For each such forfeiture order—
‘‘(A) the amount of the penalty imposed by 
the order; 
‘‘(B) the person to whom the order was 
issued;
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‘‘(C) whether the forfeiture penalty has 
been paid; and 
‘‘(D) the amount paid. 
‘‘(9) For each case in which a person has failed 
to pay a forfeiture penalty imposed by such a final 
order, whether the Commission referred such matter 
for recovery of the penalty. 
‘‘(10) For each case in which the Commission 
referred such an order for recovery—
‘‘(A) the number of days from the date the 
Commission issued such order to the date of 
such referral; 
‘‘(B) whether an action has been com-
menced to recover the penalty, and if so, the 
number of days from the date the Commission 
referred such order for recovery to the date of 
such commencement; and 
‘‘(C) whether the recovery action resulted 
in collection of any amount, and if so, the 
amount collected.’’. 
SEC. 4. GAO STUDY OF JUNK FAX ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 
United States shall conduct a study regarding complaints 
received by the Federal Communications Commission con-
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(4) whether increasing the amount of financial 
penalties is warranted to achieve greater deterrent 
effect; and 
(5) whether establishing penalties and enforce-
ment actions for repeat violators or abusive viola-
tions similar to those established by section 4 of the 
CAN–SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7703) would 
have a greater deterrent effect. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
submit a report on the results of the study under this sec-
tion to Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2004. 
Attest: 
JEFF TRANDAHL, 
Clerk.