Rick Boucher (D-VA) and his collegues have introduced an anti-spam bill. (I know, I know, Yet Another Anti-Spam Bill...)
Here's a press release and actual text of the bill for you to chew on.
The Anti-SPAM Act, of which Congressman Boucher is an original co-author, would enable consumers to opt-out of all commercial e-mail from any company. Companies who send commercial e-mails would be required to clearly identify the e-mail as a business solicitation or advertisement and to provide the recipient with a return e-mail address or website where he or she can opt-out from receiving the company’s e-mail. Companies would be required to comply with a consumer’s request to opt-out from the unsolicited commercial e-mail within 10 days.The measure would also protect consumers against fraudulent or sexually-explicit e-mail. If enacted, the bill would make it a criminal offense to send e-mails which incorrectly state the origin of the e-mail. Companies who send e-mails which contain sexually-explicit material would also be required to clearly indicate the content of the e-mail, and to allow consumers to opt-out from receiving it.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs), state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission will be given the authority to enforce the Anti-Spam Act. Any person or company found to be in violation of the Act could face up to 2 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
There is no url for this press release. Rick Boucher's Folks sent it me in an email. Sorry to be so late posting it. I'm way backed up (just wait till you see the other old news I'm going to be posting today :-)
Congressman Rick Boucher
2187 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amanda Potter, (202) 225-3861
June 18, 2003
BOUCHER CO-AUTHORS NEW APPROACH TO
ELIMINATING SPAM
(Washington, D.C.) –
U.S. Representative Rick Boucher today joined with Representatives Wilson, Green, Dingell and Markey in introducing the bipartisan Anti-SPAM Act of 2003. "Our SPAM legislation protects consumers and provides law enforcement with the necessary tools to stop unsolicited commercial e-mail. SPAM is no longer just an annoyance to consumers. Today, it is an epidemic which costs Internet Service Providers millions of dollars and slows down consumers e-mail connections," Boucher said.
The Anti-SPAM Act, of which Congressman Boucher is an original co-author, would enable consumers to opt-out of all commercial e-mail from any company. Companies who send commercial e-mails would be required to clearly identify the e-mail as a business solicitation or advertisement and to provide the recipient with a return e-mail address or website where he or she can opt-out from receiving the company’s e-mail. Companies would be required to comply with a consumer’s request to opt-out from the unsolicited commercial e-mail within 10 days.
The measure would also protect consumers against fraudulent or sexually-explicit e-mail. If enacted, the bill would make it a criminal offense to send e-mails which incorrectly state the origin of the e-mail. Companies who send e-mails which contain sexually-explicit material would also be required to clearly indicate the content of the e-mail, and to allow consumers to opt-out from receiving it.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs), state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission will be given the authority to enforce the Anti-Spam Act. Any person or company found to be in violation of the Act could face up to 2 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
-more-
Boucher noted that the Anti-SPAM Act goes much further than other proposals which are under consideration by the U.S. Congress. "The Anti-SPAM Act provides consumers, ISPs, and law enforcement with the necessary weapons to fight vigorously the onslaught of millions of unsolicited commercial messages. It contains broad enforcement powers for federal and state authorities, tight restrictions on e-mail marketers, and includes an anti-pornography provision," he said.
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Amanda Potter
Press Secretary
Office of Congressman Rick Boucher
(202) 225-3861
Posted by Lisa at June 28, 2003 09:27 AM | TrackBack
We've created a monster. I am afraid that the cure is worse than the ailment. I whined a cryed about spam, so I am part of the problem. Now I get an inbox full of "aborted" and "undeliverable" messages. So I still have something clogging up my inbox, but now I am left scatching my head wondering what it was.
The other day I emailed myself a file from my other computer It was killed by my ISP's spam filter! This is ridiculous. If my postal carrier went through my mail and just threw out whatever he wanted to, he would end up in federal prison. I feel that I cant even give out my email addy anymore, because I dont know if the people will get through. I have an alternative, but I know no one will listen. We don't have to outlaw spam. We could tax it. Sell and require a licence to conduct email marketing. With that licence, a thread, a code is issued for inclusion in all marketing emails. It will be an identifier that ISP's can recognise. The subscriber then decides yes or no that they want to recieve marketing emails. The ISP simply filters out all emails with that engrained code.
If a person recieves a marketing email, and they have opted out, then the mailer can be reported to the ISP, who will in turn report them to the autorities to be investigated to see if they are conducting illegal emailings with out a licence, and fined accordingly. There dosent even have to be any "aborted" message sent to the recipient in the case of an opt-out. They will never have to know the email existed. Then email marketers can still conduct business as well.
