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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Tri-Star Marketing, Inc. ) File No. EB-00-TC-009
)
Forfeiture Order ) NAL/Acct. No. X3217-005
FORFEITURE ORDER
Adopted: October 17, 2000 Released: October 23,
2000
By the Commission:
1. In this Order, we issue a monetary forfeiture in the
amount of $47,000 against Tri-Star Marketing, Inc. (Tri-Star) for
willfully or repeatedly violating section 227(b)(1)(C) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act), and the
Commission's rules and orders. 1 Tri-Star sent unsolicited
advertisements to telephone facsimile machines on eight separate
occasions.
2. On July 12, 1999, the Commission staff issued a
citation to Tri-Star pursuant to section 503 of the Act.2 The
staff cited Tri-Star for allegedly using a telephone facsimile
machine, computer, or other device to send unsolicited
advertisements to another telephone facsimile machine, in
violation of section 227 of the Act and the Commission's rules
and orders. Despite the citation's warning that subsequent
violations could result in the imposition of monetary
forfeitures, the Commission received several consumer letters
stating that Tri-Star had continued to engage in such conduct
after receiving the citation.3 On June 22, 2000, the Commission
issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL)
against Tri-Star that proposed a forfeiture amount of $47,000
for eight apparent violations.4 Although Commission rules
provide that a cited party must either respond to the NAL or pay
the full amount of the proposed forfeiture within 30 days of
issuance of an NAL,5 Tri-Star failed to respond to an NAL or pay
the proposed forfeiture amount. Therefore, based on the
information before us, we affirm this forfeiture in the full
amount proposed in the NAL.
3. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to section
503(b)(5) of the Act, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(5), and
section 1.80 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.80, that
Tri-Star Marketing, Inc. IS LIABLE FOR A MONETARY FORFEITURE in
the amount of $47,000 for willful or repeated violations of
section 227(b)(1)(C) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C),
sections 64.1200(a)(3) and 64.1200(f)(5) of the Commission's
rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 64.1200(a)(3), 64.1200(f)(5), and the related
orders.
4. Payment of the forfeiture shall be made in the manner
provided for in Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules within 30
days of the release of this Order.6 If the forfeiture is not
paid within the period specified, the case may be referred to the
Department of Justice for collection pursuant to section 504(a)
of the Act.7 Payment may be made by credit card through the
Commission's Credit and Debt Management Center at (202) 418-1995
or by mailing a check or similar instrument, payable to the order
of the Federal Communications Commission, to the Federal
Communications Commission, P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois
60673-7482. The payment should note the NAL/Acct. No. referenced
above. Requests for full payment under an installment plan should
be sent to: Chief, Credit and Debt Management Center, FCC, 445
12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.
5. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Forfeiture
Order SHALL BE SENT by certified mail to Dary Riedlinger, Owner,
Tri-Star Marketing, Inc., 2906 & 2910 Hoyt Ave., Everett,
Washington 98201.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Magalie Roman Salas
Secretary
_________________________
1 See 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(3);
see also Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone
Consumer Protection Act of 1991, Report and Order, 7 FCC Rcd
8752, 8779, ¶ 54 (1995) (TCPA Report and Order) (stating that
Section 227 of the Act prohibits the use of telephone facsimile
machines to send unsolicited advertisements).
2 See 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(5) (authorizing the Commission to
issue citations to non-common carriers for violations of the Act
or of the Commission's rules and orders).
3 See Tri-Star Marketing, Inc., Notice of Apparent Liability
For Forfeiture, FCC 00-219 (released June 22, 2000).
4 The Commission assessed a forfeiture amount of $4,500 to
each of six of the apparent violations and $10,000 for the
remaining two apparent violations. The Commission determined
that the remaining two violations justified a higher proposed
forfeiture because Tri-Star had apparently faxed unsolicited
advertisements to consumers after they had explicitly asked Tri-
Star to cease doing so.
5 47 C.F.R. § 1.80.
6 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(f)(4).
7 47 U.S.C. § 504(a).