NEW LAW PACKS POTENT TOOLS

Posted 12/23/2003 10:17 AM

USA Today

By Conrad Burns and Ron Wyden

The exploding volume of unwanted commercial email messages-known as "spam"-threatens the future of email as a form of communication.

A state-by-state approach never will stop spam. That's why we worked together to pass the CAN SPAM Act. This new law, recently signed by President Bush, provides a strong set of new, nationwide tools to combat the deluge of unwanted spam.

Vigorous enforcement is the key to canning spam. That's why we've written to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Timothy Muris urging him to take immediate action against kingpin spammers. The new law gives the FTC tough new penalties with which to punish spammers. Facing major financial penalties and possible jail time, spammers will think twice before hocking their modern-day snake oil via email.

While some critics argue that the new law legitimizes some forms of spam, nothing could be further from the truth. Big-time spammers inevitably will violate the CAN SPAM Act because it strikes at the heart of how their sleazy businesses work. The bill prohibits senders of commercial email from hiding or disguising their identities or from using misleading subject lines. Spammers must use these deceptive tactics to avoid now-common spam filters. If they continue to do so, they will violate the law and face the consequences.

If spammers attempt to comply with the new law, Internet service providers (ISPs) will have a much easier time blocking spam messages from getting to consumers. ISP networks are private property and ISPs can and do have policies against transmitting spam over their networks. Even if a particular email complies with all of the requirements of the law, its still could be unauthorized and subject to being blocked by the ISP. So, far from legitimizing spam, the new law boosts ISPs anti-spam efforts.

While we never have claimed that the CAN SPAM Act is a silver bullet that will completely rid the world of spam, we do believe that vigorous enforcement of this bill can stem the tide. Nothing less than the future of email is riding on this effort.

Sens. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., co-authored the CAN SPAM Act of 2003.