The NAM is part of the Fax Ban Coalition, which filed a petition on 11/7/05 with the FCC for a declaratory ruling that the Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over interstate fax communications and that a California law regulating interstate faxes is preempted.The federal Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 does not expressly preempt state fax laws, and some states have different requirements that conflict with it. California recently enacted a law that prohibits any unsolicited advertisements by fax without prior express permission from the recipient. The California law applies to all faxes sent to or from California, and is effective January 1, 2006. The California law does not recognize the "established business relationship" exemption of the federal law, but does provide some exemptions for certain nonprofit organizations. In addition to the petition at the FCC, business groups are also challenging this law in federal district court in California.
On 2/27/06, a federal district court struck down most of the California fax advertisement law, holding that it was preempted by the Federal Communications Act of 1934 to the extent it would have regulated interstate faxes.
On 4/6/06, the Federal Communications Commission announced new rules for unsolicited commercial fax advertisements, under which it adopted proposals made by the Fax Ban Coalition. The new rules implement the JFPA, which allows organizations to send faxes to those recipients with whom they have established business relationships, but requires senders to permit recipients to opt out of receiving future messages.