Astro Sues to Halt Conduct of WestFax, ‘Largest Junk Fax Operation’ in US
Astro Companies, a telecommunication services provider, in a suit filed Monday claimed WestFax sends unsolicited fax ads in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Junk Fax Prevention Act, plus the FCC regulations promulgated under those statutes. The…
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high-volume fax broadcaster “has devised an elaborate scheme that is a subterfuge for its high degree of direct involvement in what is possibly the largest junk fax operation” in the U.S., said Astro’s complaint (docket 1:23-cv-02328) in U.S. District Court for Colorado in Denver. “Over the years, in response to legal threats and allegations WestFax has claimed that it is not liable for violations of federal and state laws prohibiting or restricting junk faxes,” said the complaint. WestFax has claimed “that it has little direct involvement in the actual sending of the faxes,” and that its clients are responsible for any legal violations because WestFax “has no knowledge about the content of the faxes,” Astro said. But WestFax’s claims are false, said the complaint. WestFax “is knowingly and integrally involved in sending up to millions of junk faxes” daily to recipients in the U.S., it said: “Astro brings this case to put an end to WestFax’s unlawful and unfair practices and for statutory damages.” When a junk fax “burst” of WestFax’s doing takes place, “it can fill all available telecommunications and information technology resources on Astro’s network for a period of time, during which time Astro’s telecommunications services are not free to receive non-junk faxes,” it said. WestFax “has a high degree of involvement” in the sending of fax ads from advertisers it “induces” to subscribe to its fax broadcasting services, said the complaint. Between January 2021 and June 23 this year, WestFax, on behalf of one such advertiser, Coast Credit, sent Astro nearly 8,600 fax ads, it said. Those faxes “occupied Astro’s fax lines, making them unavailable for legitimate business purposes,” it said.