* Politicians vow to fight spam
Last week, state and federal government groups put a stake in the ground in their effort to halt annoying unsolicited e-mails. The Federal Trade Commission held its first “spam forum” last week in Washington, D.C., to address the problem. At the event, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced his plan to draft legislation designed to minimize the amount of spam that’s delivered across the Internet.
The senator says he will introduce a “series of bills to clamp down on junk e-mail.” Two key parts of his planned legislation include a federal no-spam registry that’s similar to the newly created Do-Not-Call lists maintained by the FTC. He’s also pushing for criminal penalties for violators.
Separately, Virginia’s Governor Mark Warner signed a new state law that allows prosecutors to seize the profits and other assets of companies and individuals that send out unsolicited bulk e-mailings.
Offenders could be sent to prison for up to five years based on the new law, which includes other penalties for repeat offenses. Warner officially signed the new law at AOL’s headquarters in Dulles, Va.
So why are politicians getting involved in fighting spam now? It’s certainly not a new problem, but one that gets worse every year.
Schumer points to a study by Ferris Research which says businesses in the U.S. lose $10 billion a year due to spam. The number reflects lost productivity, IT and help-desk costs.
He also cited recent statistics that say about 40% of all e-mail that travel across the Internet is spam. This is one statistic that’s not hard to believe.
Like most folks, I’m tired of receiving e-mails promising me a low mortgage rate, a new career in the culinary arts, not to mention e-mails promising me a better, um, lets just call it a better “personal life.”
Like any new legislation there are those that oppose a mass “do not spam list,” like the one Schumer is proposing. Some say it’s a list that begs to be hacked while others claim such a list violates free speech.
I’m not sure if the Virginia law or Schumer’s upcoming bills would do the trick, but I’m glad to see folks are working toward decreasing the amount of junk I have to sift through each morning.
I don’t know about you, but if I’m interested in refinancing my mortgage, making a big career change or improving my “personal life,” I won’t be doing so through an unsolicited ad I received through my e-mail.
