Mar 28, 2001 - 12:39 PM

Anti-Spam Bill Sent to House Floor By D. Ian Hopper Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House took another shot Wednesday at putting a lid on unsolicited e-mail, as a key committee unanimously approved a measure designed to curb the annoyances of Internet life. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., said the costly and sometimes offensive e-mails, known derisively as "spam," need to be stopped.

"The problem with spam is that the receiver pays for e-mail advertisements," Wilson said. "Junk e-mail is like 'postage due' marketing or telemarketers calling collect."

Wilson cited a recent study released by the European Commission saying that spam costs Internet subscribers worldwide $9.4 billion every year.

The bill requires those sending unsolicited commercial e-mail messages to provide a valid return e-mail address so recipients can serve notice that they want to be taken off the mailing list.

The Federal Trade Commission would be given the authority to bring action against spam senders who violate the provisions of the legislation. Internet service providers could also sue spammers in federal court for $500 per message, up to $50,000, if a spammer willfully breaks the anti-spamming law.

The bill, having passed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, is now clear for a floor vote.

Last year, the House overwhelmingly approved an anti-spam bill, but a similar bill in the Senate was introduced late in the session and never came to a full vote.

A Senate version of the bill was reintroduced on Tuesday by three lawmakers.

"For many people spam is ruining their online experience and their ability to use e-mail," Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., said. "It's high time Congress act to protect consumers from overzealous marketers."

The Senate bill is co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Joseph Lieberman, and has the support of four other senators.

Several powerful trade groups, including the Direct Marketing Association, have opposed anti-spam bills, but the legislators said they are confident that they can bring them around this year.

"The staff has taken the time to talk to industry folks about their concerns and work out legislation that's good for everybody," Wyden spokeswoman Carol Guthrie said.

The DMA did not immediately return a call for comment.

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The bill is H.R. 718.

On the Net: Find bill text at http://thomas.loc.gov

Direct Marketing Association: http://www.the-dma.org

AP-ES-03-28-01 1239EST © Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Answers

ohplease,ohplease,ohplease. . .

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Ya know, I have noticed an increase in spam, that I think comes directly thru ezboard.

I think they sold the members addresses to the advertisers.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

Also, I want to point out that I have 'several' handles and so my inbox is reflective of that.

I can imagine what my hotmail inbox looks like. LOLOLOLOL

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

I have it set up on my e-mail where the spam is suppose to go into the bulk mail folders, away from my normal e-mail. I still get a few things of spam though in my normal e-mail box and need to delete all that comes in. I really hope they can stop this intrusion into our mail.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001

When I thought I had been banned this morning, I registered under another name at ezboard. Within seconds--literally seconds--there were two spams from BigBang in my mailbox again. And I VERY CAREFULLY checked all the appropriate Nos. So I wrote to them, told them what had happened, and that it was a legal problem (which it is, obtaining information by fraudulent means or something, not real familiar with criminal law), and told them to cease and desist.

BigBang has some sort of contractual or deeper relationship with ezboard--maybe they're one and the same, which would make sense given all the glitches. You just CANNOT give personal information to third parties, when you say quite clearly you promise not to. This is one of the many reasons I didn't want to be involved with ezboard any more. Too late for us, of course, they have all our info, but I'll be damned if they'll use our board visits to bolster their payments for advertising.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2001