INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has wielded a law passed last year against more than a dozen companies for sending unsolicited faxes to state businesses.

Carter announced over the weekend he had filed new lawsuits against eight companies from six states under the state's 2006 Do Not Fax law. Five other companies have also paid fines of up to $1,500 per alleged violation to the AG's office so far this year.

The eight named Sunday have allegedly faxed offers of vacations, loans, insurance, weight-loss products and vacations to Indiana residents without their permission, the release states. Three of the companies - Cancun Adventures Inc., Sunstar Travel and Tours Inc. and Tropical Travel Marketing Inc. - are Florida-based.

Indiana's Do Not Fax law automatically applies to every fax number in the state and doesn't require registration like Do Not Call laws, an AG website posting states. It was passed unanimously by the Indiana legislature and became effective Jan. 1.

The other five have settled Do Not Fax charges with the AG through assurances of voluntary compliance (AVC) totaling $13,250 so far since January 2007, Carter stated. Those companies are based in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, New York and Texas.

Carter told the South Bend Tribune Tuesday that the state's Do Not Fax law was an upgrade over the federal Do Not Call law. "That law hasn't been working...and hasn't been enforced," he said.