>This was in RISKS recently. Maybe I should change the text of my
>"nospam"
>reply.
>
> Bill
>
>Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 19:46:42 -0400
>From: Dan Franklin <dan@copernicus.bbn.com>
>Subject: Sometimes junk e-mail is already a fax, legally speaking
>
>I've been using the following legal information, which I picked up from
>another mailing list (Keith Bostic's /dev/null list), in my responses
>to
>junk e-mail these days. So far I haven't yet received junk e-mail on
>my
>home computer while it had a printer attached, but one of these days...
>
>Under US Code Title 47, Sec.227(b)(1)(C):
>
> "It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States
>to
> use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device
> to send an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile
> machine"
>
>A "telephone facsimile machine" is defined in Sec.227(a)(2)(B) as:
>
> "equipment which has the capacity to transcribe text or images
> (or both) from an electronic signal received over a regular
> telephone line onto paper."
>
>Under this definition, an e-mail account, modem, computer and printer
>together constitute a fax machine.
>
>The rights of action are as follows. Under Sec.227(b)(3)(B):
>
> "A person or entity may, if otherwise permitted by the laws or
> rules of court of a State, bring in an appropriate court of
> that State --
>
> (A) an action based on a violation of this subsection or the
> regulations prescribed under this subsection to enjoin
> such violation,
> (B) an action to recover for actual monetary loss from such a
> violation, or to receive $500 in damages for each such
> violation, whichever is greater, or
> (C) both such actions. If the court finds that the defendant
> willfully or knowingly violated this subsection or the
> regulations prescribed under this subsection, the court
> may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the award
> to an amount equal to not more than 3 times the amount
> available under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph."
>
>For the full legal text USC Title 47, Section 227, see:
>http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html
>
>Dan Franklin dfranklin@bbn.com
>
>