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PRESIDENT SIGNS BURNS-WYDEN
“CAN SPAM” ACT
Senators’ legislation becomes first
national anti-spam law
December 16, 2003
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) today applauded
the signing into law of their legislation, the “CAN SPAM
Act of 2003,” to help Americans combat the growing problem
of unsolicited e-mail or “spam.” The law includes
tough civil and criminal penalties against the senders of unlawful
marketing e-mail, requires special warnings for pornographic
messages, and addresses the feasibility of a “do not spam” list.
The Burns-Wyden legislation is the first national anti-spam law.
“Kingpin spammers
will now face tough rules and harsh consequences for sending
unwanted, offensive e-mails to unwilling recipients,” said
Wyden. “Swift and aggressive enforcement will be essential,
and Senator Burns and I will continue to push the Federal Trade
Commission and others to use the tools this law gives them to
fight against spam.”
“Today’s
signing of the CAN SPAM Act is the culmination of over four
years of work on this legislation,” said Burns. “Senator
Wyden and I have worked during this time to come up with common-sense
legislation to deal with spam and I think we’ve been
successful. In a country with an ever increasing reliance on
the Internet, I am glad to know that today marks a day where
Americans will begin to have some muscle against the spammers
out there who flood their inboxes each day. I am pleased to
see this bipartisan legislation receive the support and signature
of the President today, and I look forward to the strength
it will give to all Americans who are plagued with an inundation
of spam everyday.”
To encourage quick and strong
enforcement of the new CAN SPAM law, Burns
and Wyden wrote Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Timothy Muris
last week requesting that the agency to move
promptly to prepare enforcement cases against high-volume “kingpin”
spammers, so that when the law comes into effect on January 1,
2004, the FTC will be in a position to take high-profile enforcement
actions without delay. The Senators urged the FTC to “put
established spammers on notice that the game has changed, and
to discourage new ones from entering the sleazy business.”
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 of up to $250 per spam e-mail
with a cap of $2 million that can be tripled for
aggravated violations.
There is no cap on damages for e-mails using false
or deceptive headers, the cap does not apply. Additionally,
the final
bill enhances FTC enforcement authority.
The bill requires senders
of commercial e-mail to include an enforceable
opt-out mechanism, prohibits false and deceptive headers
and subject lines,
increases monetary damages imposed on spammers
who engage in particularly nefarious spamming techniques,
and includes
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.
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 proceed
with implementation without further congressional action.
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