HB 1177 -- Merchandising Practices

Sponsor:  Alter

This bill prohibits faxing or e-mailing unsolicited
advertisements for goods or services unless the fax or e-mail
includes a statement informing the recipient of a toll-free
telephone number which recipients can call to notify the sender
not to send further unsolicited documents.  E-mails may
alternatively provide a valid sender-operated return e-mail
address for recipients to notify senders not to send further
unsolicited documents.  Once notified not to send unsolicited
documents, senders will be subject to a $500 fine for each
unsolicited transmission.  E-mails exempt from the bill's
provisions are those addressed to recipients with whom the
initiator has an existing business or personal relationship and
those sent at the request or with the express consent of the
recipient.

Unsolicited advertising e-mails must include in the subject line
the letters "ADV:" as the first 4 characters; for adult
material, the subject line must include the letters "ADV: ADLT"
as the first 8 characters.  The bill also allows an employer to
make a notification to senders on behalf of employees using
employer-provided and employer-controlled e-mail addresses.  The
provisions of the bill will become inoperative on and after the
date of enactment of federal law that regulates the transmission
of unsolicited advertising by e-mail.