Senate approves anti-spam bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to outlaw deceptive "spam" e-mail, and set up a "do-not-spam" registry for those who do not want to receive unsolicited commercial e-mail.
Similar legislation in the House of Representatives stalled as lawmakers try to hammer out differences between two competing bills. The Bush Administration said it supported the bill.
I don't know how enforceable this is as much modern internet harrassment originates from foreign countries but it's a step in the right direction.
The bill would not outlaw all unsolicited commercial e-mail, focusing instead on the fraudulent or deceptive messages estimated to make up two-thirds of all unsolicited commercial e-mail.
Oh. Never mind. They aren't serious after all.
The bill would also prohibit marketers from sending unsolicited messages to consumers who place their e-mail addresses on a "do-not-spam" registry, similar to the popular "do-not-call" anti-telemarketing measure launched earlier this month by the Federal Trade Commission.
Because that's working out oh so well with telemarketing.
State and federal law enforcers and Internet service providers such as EarthLink, Inc. would be allowed to pursue spammers, but individual users could not sue directly.
This is sounding worse and worse. Now they are creating legislation that defines an act as criminal and are making recompense for violations available only to corporate entities.
Forget my title for this post. I'll change it to Senate Maintains Collective Head Up Ass Despite Golden Opportunity when I get around to it.
Posted by Charles at October 23, 2003 10:31 AM