The Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) has released an Order confirming that a sender of fax ads must include “opt-out” information, even if the consumers to whom the faxes are sent previously agreed to receive fax ads from the sender. Though it confirmed the requirement, the Commission noted that some parties not in compliance with the requirement “may have reasonably been uncertain about whether [the] requirement for opt-out notices applied to them.” As such, the Commission granted retroactive waivers of the opt-out requirement to certain fax advertisement senders to provide such parties with temporary relief from any past obligation to provide the notice. Waiver recipients will also receive a six-month window to comply with the opt-out requirement. Other similarly situated parties may also seek waivers like the ones granted in the Order, but the Commission expects that such parties will make every effort to file waiver petitions within six months.
