CGB Grants TCPA Waiver Requests

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau granted waiver requests Friday to parties similarly situated to initial waiver recipients granted relief due to uncertainty about whether a fax opt-out notice requirement applies to faxes sent with recipient consent, said an order in docket 02-278 on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Junk Fax Prevention Act. The rule remains in full effect as an easy, cost-free means for fax recipients to avoid faxes they previously wanted but no longer wish to receive, the order said. The bureau also denied several related requests for declaratory ruling insofar as they seek a ruling that the commission lacked the statutory authority to require opt-out information on fax ads sent with a consumer’s prior express permission, or, alternatively, that Section 227(b) of the Communications Act wasn't the statutory basis of that requirement. It also denied the petition for declaratory ruling and/or waiver filed by Bijora Inc., seeking a clarification that fax and text message ads sent with the prior express consent of the recipient don't require an opt-out notice.