A group of California consumers has filed a set of federal and
state class action lawsuits against Fax.com over its sending of
junk faxes. They are seeking a total of $2.2 trillion. Fax.com’s
telecommunications provider, Cox Business Services, and Fax.com’s
advertisers are also named in the lawsuits.
In the lawsuits, announced by internet entrepreneur Steve
Kirsch, the consumers claim that the named companies violated
federal laws that prohibit unsolicited advertisements or
announcements being broadcast to fax machines.
They also allege that Fax.com may have put human lives in
danger, when more than 1,000 telephone calls to the University of
Washington Medical Center were launched from the company’s “war
dialer” (a program that automatically dials hundreds of numbers to
find entry points to telecommunications networks).
The suits claim that El Camino Hospital in Mountain View,
California, was also bombarded by numerous junk faxes.
The consumers are seeking a minimum statutory remedy of $500 per
fax from every advertiser who used Fax.com during the past four
years in addition to punitive damages.
Fax.com has rejected the allegations as “unfounded and absurd.”
The company said in a statement that the “lawsuit is being used to
intimidate Fax.com’s customers, many of whom are small business
owners who rely on faxing as an affordable and effective method of
advertising.”
