Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
********************************************************
NOTICE
********************************************************
This document was converted from Microsoft Word.
Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.
All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.
Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.
If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.
*****************************************************************
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554
March 25, 2003
Exposition Sales and Design, Inc.
a.k.a. ESD
144 Fairfield Road
Fairfield, New Jersey 07004
Attention: Paul Conway, President
RE: EB-03-TC-019
Dear Mr. Conway:
This is an official CITATION issued pursuant to section
503(b)(5) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the
Communications Act), 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(5).
It has come to our attention that your company recently sent
one or more unsolicited advertisements to telephone facsimile
machines (see attachment).1 Pursuant to the Telephone Consumer
Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and the Commission's rules, it is
unlawful to use a ``telephone facsimile machine, computer, or
other device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone
facsimile machine.'' 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C); 47 C.F.R. §
64.1200(a)(3).
In addition to the violation identified above, it appears
that your company has also violated the provisions of the TCPA
and the Commission's rules that require any person or entity who
sends a message via a telephone facsimile machine to clearly mark
``in a margin at the top or bottom of each transmitted page of
the message or on the first page of the transmission, the date
and time it is sent and an identification of the business, other
entity, or individual sending the message and the telephone
number of the sending machine or of such business, other entity,
or individual.'' 47 U.S.C. § 227(d)(1)(B); 47 C.F.R. §
68.318(d).
Please be advised that subsequent violations of the
Communications Act or of the Commission's rules may result in the
imposition of monetary forfeitures not to exceed $11,000 for each
such violation or each day of a continuing violation. See 47
C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(3).
The phrase ``unsolicited advertisement'' is defined in the
TCPA and the Commission's rules as ``any material advertising the
commercial availability or quality of any property, goods, or
services which is transmitted to any person without that person's
prior express invitation or permission.'' 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4);
47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(5). Both the TCPA and the Commission's
rules define ``telephone facsimile machine'' as ``equipment which
has the capacity to transcribe text or images, or both, from
paper into an electronic signal and to transmit that signal over
a regular telephone line, or to transcribe text or images (or
both) from an electronic signal received over a regular telephone
line onto paper.'' 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(2); 47 C.F.R. §
64.1200(f)(2). Addressing the TCPA's definition of ``telephone
facsimile machine,'' the Commission stated that ``[f]ax modem
boards are the functional equivalent of stand-alone facsimile
machines.'' Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone
Consumer Protection Act of 1991, 10 FCC Rcd 12391, 12405, para.
29 (1995).
Pursuant to section 503(b)(5) of the Communications Act, you
may request a personal interview at the Commission's Field Office
nearest to your place of business. The nearest office appears to
be the New York City Office at 201 Varick Street, Room 1151, New
York, New York 10014-4870, which you can contact by telephone at
(212) 337-1865. You must schedule this interview to take place
within 21 days of the date of this citation. Alternatively, you
may submit a written statement to the following address within 21
days of the date of this citation:
Kurt A. Schroeder
Deputy Chief, Telecommunications Consumers
Division
Enforcement Bureau
Federal Communications Commission
445-12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
If you choose to submit a written statement, your written
statement should specify what actions have been taken to correct
the violation(s) outlined above. Please reference EB-03-TC-019
when corresponding with the Commission.
Under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(e)(3), we
are informing you that the Commission's staff will use all
relevant material information before it to determine what, if
any, enforcement action is required to ensure your compliance
with the TCPA and the Commission's rules. This will include any
information that you disclose in your interview or written
statement. Please be advised that if you choose not to respond
to this citation and a forfeiture is issued, your
unresponsiveness will be considered in our assessment of a
forfeiture amount.
You should also be aware that the knowing and willful making
of any false statement, or the concealment of any material fact,
in reply to this citation is punishable by fine or imprisonment
under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.
Sincerely,
Kurt A. Schroeder
Deputy Chief, Telecommunications
Consumers Division
Enforcement Bureau
Federal Communications Commission
Enclosures
_________________________
1
In addition to the advertisement(s) referenced by and
attached to this citation, the complaining party may also have
included with the complaint one or more facsimile advertisements
transmitted by other senders. This citation concerns only the
facsimile advertisement(s) referenced by and attached to the
citation, and your response only needs to address such
advertisement(s).