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                FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                     WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554
                                                       

                              January 14, 2005 



VIA CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
AND FACSIMILE  
 
Investment Recovery                                            
Investment Recovery
d.b.a. Copier Search International, Inc.                d.b.a. 
Copier Search International, Inc.
Attention: Jim Hummel                                        
Attention:  Jim Hummel
1600 Patterson Road                                             
748 N. Lindbergh Boulevard
Florissant, Missouri  63031                                  
Saint Louis, Missouri   63031
     
          RE:  EB-04-TC-165

Dear Mr. Hummel:
 
     This is an official CITATION, issued pursuant to section 
503(b)(5) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the 
Act), 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(5), for violations of the Act and the 
Federal Communications Commission's rules that govern telephone 
solicitations and unsolicited advertisements.1  As explained 
below, future violations of the Act or Commission's rules in this 
regard may subject your company to monetary forfeitures.

     It has come to our attention that your company apparently 
sent one or more unsolicited advertisements to telephone 
facsimile machines in violation of Section 227(b)(1)(C) of the 
Communications Act makes it ``unlawful for any person within the 
United States, or any person outside the United States if the 
recipient is within the United States . . . to use a telephone 
facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an 
unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine.'' 2   
The term ``unsolicited advertisement'' is defined in the Act 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.''3  Under Commission 
rules and orders currently in effect, the Commission considers an 
established business relationship between a fax sender and 
recipient to constitute prior express invitation or permission to 
send a facsimile advertisement.4  Mere distribution or 
publication of a fax number, however, does not establish consent 
to receive advertisements by fax.5

     If, after receipt of this citation, you violate the 
Communications Act or the Commission's rules in any manner 
described herein, the Commission may impose monetary forfeitures 
not to exceed $11,000 for each such violation or each day of a 
continuing violation. 6

     You may respond to this citation within 30 days from the 
date of this letter either through (1) a personal interview at 
the Commission's Field Office nearest to your place of business, 
or (2) a written statement.  Your response should specify the 
actions that you are taking to ensure that you do not violate the 
Commission's rules governing telephone solicitation and 
unsolicited advertisements, as described above.  
     
     The nearest Commission field office appears to be the Kansas 
Office, Lee's Summit, Missouri.   Please contact Al McCloud at 
(202) 418-2499 if you wish to schedule a personal interview.  You 
should schedule any interview to take place within 30 days of the 
date 
this letter.  You should send any written statement within 30 
days of the date of this letter to: 

               Kurt A. Schroeder
               Deputy Chief
                                    Telecommunications Consumers 
Division
               Enforcement Bureau
               Federal Communications Commission
               445-12th Street, S.W.
               Rm. 4-C222
               Washington, D.C.  20554 

Reference EB-04-TC-165 when corresponding with the Commission.

     Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are 
available upon request.  Include a description of the 
accommodation you will need including as much detail as you can.  
Also include a way we can contact you if we need more 
information.  Please allow at least 5 days advance notice; last 
minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill.  
Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & 
Governmental Affairs Bureau:

          For sign language interpreters, CART, and other 
reasonable accommodations: 
     202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty);

          For accessible format materials (braille, large print, 
electronic files, and audio 
     format): 202-418-0531 (voice), 202-418-7365 (tty). 

     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, including information 
that you disclose in your interview or written statement, to 
determine what, if any, enforcement action is required to ensure 
your compliance with the Communications Act and the Commission's 
rules.  

     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 47 U.S.C. § 227; 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200.  A copy of these 
provisions is enclosed for your convenience.  Section 227 was 
added to the Communications Act by the Telephone Consumer 
Protection Act of 1991 and is most commonly known as the TCPA.  
The TCPA and the Commission's parallel rules restrict a variety 
of practices that are associated with telephone solicitation and 
use of the telephone network to deliver unsolicited 
advertisements, including fax advertising.

2 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C); see also 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(3) 
(providing that no person or entity may . . . use a telephone 
facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an 
unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine).  
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)(8).  The Commission 
has stated that ``[t]he TCPA's definition of `telephone facsimile 
machine' broadly applies to any equipment that has the capacity 
to send or receive text or images.''  Thus, ``faxes sent to 
personal computers equipped with, or attached to, modems and to 
computerized fax servers are subject to the TCPA's prohibition on 
unsolicited faxes. . . [although] the prohibition does not extend 
to facsimile messages sent as email over the Internet.'' Rules 
and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection 
Act of 1991, Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 14014, 14131-32 (2003) 
(2003 TCPA Report and Order).

3 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(10).
 
4 Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer 
Protection Act of 1991, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 10 FCC Rcd 
12391, 12405 (1995) (1995 TCPA Reconsideration Order).  In June 
2003, the Commission amended its rules to specify that prior 
express invitation or permission to receive a facsimile 
advertisement must be recorded in a ``signed written statement 
that includes the facsimile number to which any advertisements 
may be sent and clearly indicates the recipient's consent to 
receive such facsimile advertisements from the sender.'' 2003 
TCPA Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 14124-28 (adopting new 
section 64.1200(a)(3)(i).  This new provision, which supercedes 
the established business relationship exception, is scheduled to 
take effect June 30, 2005.  Rules and Regulations Implementing 
the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, Order, FCC 04-223 
(rel. Oct.1, 2004).  The Commission currently is considering 
petitions that seek to retain the established business 
relationship exception or require methods other than a signed 
written statement to demonstrate prior express consent to receive 
fax advertising.

51995 Reconsideration Order, 10 FCC Rcd at 12408-09; see also 
2003 TCPA Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd at 14128 (concluding that 
publication of a fax number in a trade publication or directory 
does not demonstrate consent to receive fax advertising).

6 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(3).