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RE: [Asrg] 6. Proposals - Legal - US Congress to vote on federal anti-spam bill

2003-11-21 12:54:29
Some comments:

1) We should push to make sure that the do not spam registry is maintained
using the one-way digest technique. [My original publication on this is now
eight years old and we can be as sure as is possible it is not encumbered].

2) I am not particularly concerned about pre-empting state statutes that the
states are failing to enforce. I would much rather see a weak federal
statute being enforced than a strong state statute that is ignored.

3) I am still an advocate of having the Postal Inspectorate, the wing of the
justice dept that investigates mail frauds take responsibility for
investigating spam frauds. The FTC has been doing some useful work here, but
it is a civil agency and cannot apply for criminal sanctions. The mail
inspectorate can and does.

4) Legislative action is not a substitute for fixing the email protocols. We
need to consider how we can change the email protocols to make enforcement
of anti-spam laws more effective.

5) The do not spam registry is unlikely to reduce the effectiveness and will
significantly reduce the first ammendment uncertainty in connection with the
act.

                Phill

-----Original Message-----
From: Yakov Shafranovich [mailto:research(_at_)solidmatrix(_dot_)com]
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 2:22 PM
To: ASRG
Subject: [Asrg] 6. Proposals - Legal - US Congress to vote on federal
anti-spam bill


See the following article:

http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-5110622.html

----------------------
"Congress has reached an agreement on antispam legislation and could 
vote on it as early as Friday afternoon, a move that would 
end more than 
six years of failed attempts to enact a federal law restricting 
unsolicited commercial e-mail."

"The broad outline of the legislation, however, shows that it is a 
modest compromise and not as far-reaching as some antispam 
advocates had 
urged. It establishes a "do not spam" registry to be run by 
the Federal 
Trade Commission, makes it a crime punishable by up to five years in 
prison to send fraudulent spam, and imposes an "opt out" standard 
instead of a more stringent "opt in" requirement. Unsolicited bulk 
e-mail from nonprofit groups, politicians, and charities would not be 
regulated.

Still unclear is whether the bill would pre-empt more 
restrictive state 
laws such as one enacted in September by California. That law 
establishes an opt-in standard and is scheduled to take 
effect on Jan. 1."
----------------------



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