NEWGEN-L Archives

From: "Bill Fox" <>
Subject: [NEWGEN] Spam Legislation
Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 19:59:07 -0500

Please contact your Senator and support this legislation.

http://www.senate.gov/~burns/

BURNS SAYS SPAM BILL HEADED TO FLOOR



WASHINGTON - Senator Conrad Burns, ranking member of the
communications subcommittee, today announced he had secured broad
member support for his CAN-SPAM Act ensuring that it would survive a
May 16 mark-up vote and reach the Senate floor.

Such a move would be the closest legislation aimed at spam
(unsolicited commercial email) has ever come to being law.

"Based on the discussions I've had with colleagues I am confident
it will move out of committee and head to the floor," Burns said.
"This is a necessary step if we want put an end to rampant,
hyper-marketing choking the Internet."

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), cosponsor of the legislation, said
"Moving this legislation forward will be a boon to online use and
e-commerce. It's time for some common sense rules to help consumers
take back control of their inboxes."

Burns and Wyden authored similar SPAM legislation in 1999 when he
unveiled his Tech 7 agenda during the 106th Congress.

The growth of spam has become a problem for small businesses and
users in rural areas who pay for online services by the minute.
Reports estimate the average email account received 571 spam emails
last year - and expect that number to almost triple by 2006.
Worldwide, spam is estimated to cost businesses and consumers $8.6
billion a year.


The Burns-Wyden CAN-SPAM Act bill requires e-marketers to comply with
a set of rules aimed at empowering consumers with greater choice over
"spam" emails. The Act would:

* Require e-marketers to include a working return address to allow
recipients the option of refusing further emails.

* Prohibit e-marketers from using falsified subject lines.

The CAN-SPAM Act also includes strong enforcement provisions to
ensure compliance:

*The Federal Trade Commission would have authority to impose steep
civil fines of up to $10 per unlawful message and up to an overall cap
of $500,000. This amount may be tripled if the courts find the
violation was willful.

*State attorney generals would be able to bring suit on behalf of
the citizens of their states.

*Internet service providers would be able to bring suit to keep
unlawful spam off their networks.

*Spammers that intentionally disguise their identities would be
subject to misdemeanor criminal penalties.


http://www.senate.gov/~burns/

# # #
ill Fox

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