Webdude
December 18th, 2003, 11:57
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/36517
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) signed the first national anti-spam bill into law on Tuesday, outlawing some of the most annoying forms of junk e-mail and setting jail time and multimillion dollar fines for violators.
The law also lays the groundwork for a "Do Not Spam" registry similar to the "Do Not Call" anti-telemarketing list that went into effect earlier this year.
Bush's signing marks the final legislative step in a six-year struggle to curb the unsolicited commercial offers that threaten to overwhelm the e-mail system.
But the law is unlikely to provide much of a Christmas present, at least this year.
Experts say it will not immediately stop the torrent of unwelcome e-mails touting unbelievably low mortgage rates, get-rich-quick-schemes and sexual enhancement offers that now account for more than half of all e-mail traffic.
Skeptics say it will only encourage businesses to send out more unwanted e-mail, as the new law allows marketers to send messages to anyone with an e-mail address as long as they identify themselves clearly and honor consumer requests to leave them alone.
Supporters say the bill sets a helpful framework for acceptable e-mail practices, but acknowledge it will need to be enforced aggressively to have any impact.
"This will help address the problems associated with the rapid growth and abuse of spam by establishing a framework of technological, administrative, civil and criminal tools and by providing consumers with the options to reduce unwanted e-mail," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The new law requires pornographic e-mail to be clearly labeled, and commercial "text messages" to cell phones will be prohibited unless users expressly permitted them.
It will override some tougher state laws, such as one in California that would prevent all unsolicited commercial e-mail, and will prohibit consumer lawsuits, as some states currently allow.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) signed the first national anti-spam bill into law on Tuesday, outlawing some of the most annoying forms of junk e-mail and setting jail time and multimillion dollar fines for violators.
The law also lays the groundwork for a "Do Not Spam" registry similar to the "Do Not Call" anti-telemarketing list that went into effect earlier this year.
Bush's signing marks the final legislative step in a six-year struggle to curb the unsolicited commercial offers that threaten to overwhelm the e-mail system.
But the law is unlikely to provide much of a Christmas present, at least this year.
Experts say it will not immediately stop the torrent of unwelcome e-mails touting unbelievably low mortgage rates, get-rich-quick-schemes and sexual enhancement offers that now account for more than half of all e-mail traffic.
Skeptics say it will only encourage businesses to send out more unwanted e-mail, as the new law allows marketers to send messages to anyone with an e-mail address as long as they identify themselves clearly and honor consumer requests to leave them alone.
Supporters say the bill sets a helpful framework for acceptable e-mail practices, but acknowledge it will need to be enforced aggressively to have any impact.
"This will help address the problems associated with the rapid growth and abuse of spam by establishing a framework of technological, administrative, civil and criminal tools and by providing consumers with the options to reduce unwanted e-mail," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The new law requires pornographic e-mail to be clearly labeled, and commercial "text messages" to cell phones will be prohibited unless users expressly permitted them.
It will override some tougher state laws, such as one in California that would prevent all unsolicited commercial e-mail, and will prohibit consumer lawsuits, as some states currently allow.