Privacy Law Library

Unsolicited Fax Advertising and Unsolicited Commercial Email

RI Fax and Email Advertising Law

Marketing · Communications

Requires senders of unsolicited advertising faxes and unsolicited commercial emails to give recipients a toll-free number (or, for email, a working reply address) to stop further messages, and to honor those requests. It also prohibits commercial emails that spoof a third party's domain name or falsify the message's origin or transmission path. Federal CAN-SPAM likely preempts parts of the email section; see unverified.

Where

Rhode Island

Citation

R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 6-47-1 to 6-47-3

Status

In force

Enforced by

Rhode Island Attorney General (fax violations as deceptive trade practices); recipients via civil action

People can sue

Yes

Penalties

Fax: recipients or the AG may recover per violation up to ,000, plus attorney's fees, and violations are deceptive trade practices under ch. 6-13.1 (§ 6-47-1(e)). Email: per violation to the recipient plus attorney's fees and costs (§ 6-47-2(h)).

Applies to

• Persons or entities doing business in Rhode Island that send unsolicited advertising faxes
• Anyone sending unsolicited commercial email from a computer in Rhode Island or to an address the sender knows or has reason to know belongs to a Rhode Island resident
• Carriers and ISPs that merely transmit are excluded