Chamber Applauds Decision to Delay Implementation of California Advertising Fax Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Chamber of Commerce applauded today's decision by a federal district court to provisionally stay California's advertising fax ban pending a hearing on January 23, 2006. The ban, which would prevent companies from sending faxes when a recipient has not previously provided written consent, had been scheduled to go into effect on January 1.

"The Chamber firmly believes that the California law is pre-empted by federal law and therefore invalid," said Stephen Bokat, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center, the Chamber's public policy law firm. "States cannot regulate interstate communications and this law clearly would attempt to do so."

The Chamber and Xpedite Systems filed a lawsuit in November to challenge the California law. The judge in the case initially set a hearing date for January 9. The Chamber then requested a provisional stay or a temporary restraining order on December 15, so that business owners would not have to comply with the law before the Chamber's challenge had been considered.

The Chamber argues that, unlike federal law, the California ban contains no exception for organizations which maintain an established business relationship with their patrons. The Fax Ban Coalition, of which the Chamber is a member, also filed a petition for a declaratory ruling from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requesting that the agency find the federal law preempts the California Act.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation, representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region. The National Chamber Litigation Center is a membership organization that advocates fair treatment of business in the courts and before regulatory agencies.

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