Xref: utzoo news.admin:5512 comp.org.ieee:59
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!husc6!rutgers!att!mcdchg!ddsw1!corpane!sparks
From: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks)
Newsgroups: news.admin,comp.org.ieee
Subject: Re: Advertising vs the net
Summary: Telephone solicitations
Message-ID: <540@corpane.UUCP>
Date: 7 Apr 89 12:55:55 GMT
References: <1586@ucsd.EDU>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Corpane Industries, Inc., Louisville Ky
Lines: 39

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.