brian@ucsd.EDU (Brian Kantor) (04/05/89)
California Assembly Bill AB576 (not yet passed into law) states that a person who uses a machine that electronically transmits messages or facsimilies of documents through connection with a telephone network to transmit unsolicited advertising material for the sale of any realty, goods, or services is guilty of a misdemeanor. The IEEE San Diego Section Bulletin (from which the above is excerpted) states that the SD-IEEE propose supporting that Bill. Apparently this is an attempt to control FAX junkmail. I do not have the full text of the Bill, but it seems to me that there is some possibility that it could affect the USENET (and other BBS-like) transmission of many types of messages that are currently accepted by this community. There might also be significant first-amendment issues. Possibly other states might follow California's lead on this; some states have already enacted or considered FAX junkmail legislation. It seems to me that such a law must be drafted carefully to avoid fixing things that aren't broken. It might well be worth your time to write for a copy of the Bill and comment upon it to your legislators. Remember that they don't read the net, so blowing smoke here won't help. - Brian
bph@buengc.BU.EDU (Blair P. Houghton) (04/07/89)
In article <1586@ucsd.EDU> brian@ucsd.EDU (Brian Kantor) writes: >California Assembly Bill AB576 (not yet passed into law) states Interesting choice of groups to which to post, eh? --Blair
sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) (04/07/89)
In article <1586@ucsd.EDU>, brian@ucsd.EDU (Brian Kantor) writes: > California Assembly Bill AB576 (not yet passed into law) states > that a person who uses a machine that electronically transmits > messages or facsimiles of documents through connection with a > telephone network to transmit unsolicited advertising material for > the sale of any realty, goods, or services is guilty of a misdemeanor. > > Apparently this is an attempt to control FAX junkmail. From what is said above, it looks like it would also make those annoying computer phone solicitations illegal. The ones where a computer calls you and gives you a pre-recorded spiel. I don't think it would extend to BBS's and Usenet. After all in this case you are calling *them*. By using such services, the person is actually soliciting the information. If he knows that a certain service has online ads and he calls up that service, then he can't complain about the advertizing. Such is the case with BBS's and Usenet (the new products groups, help wanted, jobs offered, for sale, etc). If you subscribe to those groups, then you are asking for the ads. It's a different case with someone calling *you* (your phone or Fax) and spewing out advertizing. On your phone, it's harassment and a waste of your time. On a Fax, it's also a waste of your materials, such as paper and toner. --- On a humorous side note: A friend told me a good solution to the junk Fax would be to take the ad, photocopy it a few times, then paste the ads end to end. Call up the person who sent you the ad (his FAX), and feed the long sheet of ads into your fax. When the end comes out of your fax, paste it to the other end. Send an endless loop of the ad back to the advertizer, and run out all his paper. :-) -- John Sparks | {rutgers|uunet}!ukma!corpane!sparks | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps [not for RHF] | sparks@corpane.UUCP | 502/968-5401 thru -5406 My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.
high@PEDEV.Columbia.NCR.COM (Ralph Hightower) (04/08/89)
In article <1586@ucsd.EDU> brian@ucsd.EDU (Brian Kantor) writes: >California Assembly Bill AB576 (not yet passed into law) states >that a person who uses a machine that electronically transmits >messages or facsimilies of documents through connection with a >telephone network to transmit unsolicited advertising material for >the sale of any realty, goods, or services is guilty of a misdemeanor. >Apparently this is an attempt to control FAX junkmail. I like their plan, although I don't have a fax, the telephone is "a machine that electronically transmits messages . . . through the telephone network to transmit unsolicited advertising material". That's a great way and sneaky to ban telephone solicitations. -- Ralph.Hightower@Columbia.NCR.COM <Ralph M. Hightower> NCR Corp., Engineering & Manufacturing - Columbia, SC Home of THE USC! South Carolina had a University 49 years before California was a state.
hundt@paul.rutgers.edu (Thomas M. Hundt) (04/11/89)
|On a humorous side note: A friend told me a good solution to the junk Fax |would be to take the ad, photocopy it a few times, then paste the ads end to |end. Call up the person who sent you the ad (his FAX), and feed the long |sheet of ads into your fax. When the end comes out of your fax, paste it |to the other end. Send an endless loop of the ad back to the advertizer, |and run out all his paper. :-) Only I'm sure the advertiser has a PC sitting on his desk with a fax board, and would either not have it set to receive, or be constantly busy sending out faxes so you would never get through. In any case, he wouldn't be using up *any* paper; at worst, waste some disk space. BTW it seems to me that anybody can get into this business of junk faxes. All you need is a PC and a fax board. And a phone number list. -Tom -- w ["] | Thomas M. Hundt :: hundt@occlusal.rutgers.edu | |__'_ | Gradual Student :: Electrical & Computer Eng. | H \/| Rutgers University :: 201/932-5843 | X | 272 Hamilton St. #96 :: 201/247-6723 | _/ \_ | New Brunswick, NJ 08901 "Limit guns not speed" |
blackje@sunspot.steinmetz (Emmett Black) (04/11/89)
In article <Apr.10.13.31.56.1989.612@paul.rutgers.edu> hundt@paul.rutgers.edu (Thomas M. Hundt) writes: >BTW it seems to me that anybody can get into this business of junk faxes. >All you need is a PC and a fax board. And a phone number list. I recently received a soliciation offering a free Sony Walkman, if I'd send them a list of 100 fax numbers. --Emmett J.E.Black; GE Research/K1-3C26; Schenectady, NY 12345 blackje@crd.ge.com; ...!uunet!steinmetz!crd!blackje
khb@fatcity.Sun.COM (Keith Bierman Sun Tactical Engineering) (04/11/89)
In article <1586@ucsd.EDU> brian@ucsd.EDU (Brian Kantor) writes: > >It might well be worth your time to write for a copy of the Bill >and comment upon it to your legislators. Remember that they don't >read the net, so blowing smoke here won't help. > Much time and postage could be saved if someone would post the proposed text. Santa Monica is now providing (local) information via BBS. This is a good idea, IMHO. cheers all. Keith H. Bierman It's Not My Fault ---- I Voted for Bill & Opus