TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senator Paul A. Sarlo that would require companies to permit fax recipients to “opt-out” of receiving unsolicited faxes was unanimously approved today in the Senate.
“Unwanted and unsolicited faxes are a nuisance, that waste money,” said Senator Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic. “By allowing businesses the choice of ‘opting-out’ they would be able to put their profits to better use.”
Senator Sarlo’s bill, S-276, would amend the current law regarding the sending of unsolicited faxes over phone lines. The current statute, which was signed in 2005, bans the sending of unsolicited faxes.
The original legislation banned all unsolicited faxes, but many business, professional and trade nonprofit organizations complained that the fax ban limited their ability to network, Senator Sarlo said.
This bill would permit these groups to continue to exchange unsolicited faxes as long as the fax clearly offers recipients the right to tell the sender not to send future faxes.
This measure now heads to the Governor’s desk where his signature would make it State law.