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Link to The CAN SPAM Act of 2003 (S. 877)

BURNS-WYDEN “CAN SPAM” ACT HEADS TO PRESIDENT
FOR SIGNATURE
Legislation clears final vote before heading to White House

December 8, 2003

Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today announced final Congressional approval of the “CAN SPAM Act,” their legislation to help Americans combat the growing problem of unsolicited e-mail or “spam.” The CAN-SPAM Act will now go to the White House for the President’s signature. The Burns-Wyden legislation includes tough civil and criminal penalties against the senders of unlawful marketing e-mail, special warnings for pornographic messages, and addresses the feasibility of a “do not spam” list.

“The problems of spam have been accumulating over the years to a point where everyone has seen the affects of this frustrating junk mail,” said Burns. “The CAN-SPAM bill will finally offer consumers the ability to put an end to the bothersome email they see each day in their in-boxes. I am pleased to see this bill receive such overwhelming bi-partisan support and I’m glad to see its passage today will send it off to the President’s desk for his signature.”

“Today Congress cleared the way for American families to find relief from unwanted e-mail under the Burns-Wyden CAN SPAM Act,” Wyden said. “This bipartisan, bicameral effort is an important step toward stopping the kingpin spammers and stemming the flow of garbage into America’s inboxes, and I’ll be pleased to see the President sign this bill into law.”

Worldwide, more than 13 billion spam e-mail messages are sent each day, comprising about half of all e-mail traffic. Spam costs an estimated $10 billion per year due to expenses for anti-spam equipment, manpower and lost productivity. The CAN SPAM Act specifically targets deceptive messages sent by large-volume spammers, who often hide their identities, use misleading subject lines, and refuse to honor opt-out requests from spam recipients.

The final CAN SPAM Act includes damages up to $250 per spam e-mail with a cap of $2 million that can be tripled for aggravated violations. For e-mails using false or deceptive headers, the cap does not apply. Additionally, the final bill enhances FTC enforcement authority.

Critical provisions of the bill include:

• a requirement that senders of commercial e-mail include an opt-out mechanism so the consumer can tell them to stop.

• a prohibition on false and deceptive headers and subject lines – so that consumers can immediately identify the true source of the message, and so that Internet companies can identify the high-volume senders of spam.

• a provision to triple the monetary damages imposed on spammers who engage in particularly nefarious spamming techniques – such as using automatic software programs to Aharvest@ e-mail addresses from Internet Web sites, and using Adictionary attack@ software to send messages to a succession of randomly generated e-mail addresses in search of real recipients.

• a strong, multi-pronged enforcement by the FTC, state attorneys general, and Internet service providers (ISPs) with the potential for multi-million dollar judgments.

Additional criminal provisions in the bill create several tiers of penalties, ranging up to 5 years in prison, for several common “spamming” practices, including:

• Hacking into somebody else=s computer to send bulk spam;

• Using Aopen relays@ to send bulk spam with an intent to deceive;

• Falsifying header information in bulk spam;

• Registering for 5 or more e-mail accounts using false registration information, and using these accounts to send bulk spam; and,

• Sending bulk spam from somebody else’s Internet protocol addresses.

This legislation also requires the FTC to report to Congress with a plan to implement a “do-not-spam” list, similar to the “do-not-call” list for which millions of Americans have already registered. The FTC report to Congress will include any potential drawbacks or difficulties with the implementation of such a list. The legislation also gives the FTC the authority to implement a do-not-spam list.

Also included are provisions to require the FTC to write rules for mandatory labeling of pornographic messages; a separate provision directs the FTC to study mandatory labeling for unsolicited e-mail generally, as well as possible financial rewards for tech-savvy citizens who help trace hard-to-find spammers.

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