Two different groups of business organizations petitioned the FCC...

by the National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors, National Assn. of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Assn. and others, filed a stay petition Fri. charging the rules were “ludicrous,” Chamber Gen. Counsel Steve Bokat said. The Chamber said the rules would place “a monumental and costly administrative burden on associations and other businesses by requiring them to obtain the signed written consent of each recipient before any commercial fax may be sent.” Bokat said the rules meant “if a customer called and asked for a faxed copy of a bill or invoice, for example, a business would be prohibited from doing so.” The Chamber said it was urging its members to contact the FCC and their representatives in Congress to “explain the negative impact this will have on their ability to satisfy customers and hear from the business associations they trust.” The Business Users Coalition, composed of the American Society of Travel Agents, Mortgage Bankers Assn. of America, National Assn. of Mortgage Brokers, Consumer Mortgage Coalition and Midwest Circulation Assn., asked for a stay of at least 6 months. The group said it wouldn’t have time to “review, understand and comply” with the rules before the Aug. 25 effective date. The FCC’s decision to eliminate “established business relationships” (EBRs) as a justification for sending unsolicited faxes “caught all aspects of industry, from large to small businesses, off guard,” the coalition’s petition said. “The task of obtaining the necessary written authorizations is so large because the dependence of businesses on regular faxed information is so great,” the coalition said. It said it was confident necessary consents would be given, “but it is not practical to assume tens of millions of businesses can comply with the new rules -- providing consent to all companies that send them information -- in only 30 days.”