Re: NO MORE SPAM -- it\'s closer than I had hoped
The "Anti-SPAM Bill" as written is a very poor bill.
It is an "Opt-Out" system which means every spammer on the planet is allowed to send you spam until you tell them individually not to. (It should be "Opt-In" as supported by ALL the anti-SPAM groups - only those you WANT to mail you can send advertising.)
The legal approaches ONLY allow the government to persue SPAMmers, and remove the ability we currently have in many jurisdictions (mine is one) to take the spammer to small claims court for a legally mandated settlement (here it's US$500 per spam).
If put into effect it superceeds existing and future state level laws that have more strict requirements.
While the bill does require SPAM sent from the US to persons in the US to have an indication in the subject line that the message is advertising, there is no standardization of what the indicator should be so it can be filtered for.
Each SPAMmer gets to choose their own individual marking (I.E. ADV, Adv, a dv, commercial, sales, 44370, ndiFroDDl59K0, opportunity, com'l, ZRP, or something about 110 characters to the right of "Subject:").
Actually, for some people (such as those in Washington state) this bill is a step backward from what we already have in law, and will superceed our existing laws.
Does anyone REALLY think that there will be some government agency you can report your received SPAM to that will have adequate personell and funding to track down several million SPAM per day and prosecute the senders? Remember, if made law it will remove your ability to proceed on your own ...
Bottom line: It sounds great "Anti-SPAM Bill!" but the actual mechanics of it are poorly thought out by people who have no idea what they are doing, and with the assistance of the advertising and marketing companies (all current or potential SPAMmers). No public debate, no public input, all back-room stuff.
I was there in USENET when we formed CAUCE, and this bill is nothing that CAUCE would ever support in any way.
Most of the 'stuff' in this bill has already been tried and proved to be a failure. In fact, there is a state law in California set to go into effect soon to correct the existing California anti-SPAM laws, which are very similar to this bill, so that they can work and be effective. If this bill makes it into law, it will superceed that new California law, and reset that effort back to zero.
Enjoy your new found wealth of legalized SPAM! This bill makes 90% of it legal, including the stuff some state laws had already put a damper on.
Hope you can take the time to sort out the US SPAM and sent opt-out messages to all the lowlife sending them - if you're in the US.
Even the current anti-SPAM laws being put into effect elsewhere in the world (especially in Europe) are ten times better than this. With this federal level law in effect, it will make the US one of the few large groups of people whom it will be perfectly legal to SPAM for the forseeable future.
This bill is crap!
I need a drink.