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| Compromise Slams Spam Bills Together |
February 23, 2000 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 2000 FEB 23 (NB). A compromise bill to help squash unsolicited e-mail - or spam -is reportedly being worked out between two Republican lawmakers. The legislation would allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to punish groups that send spam over their networks, and establish the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as the official mediator ISPs and consumers with spam complaints.
The two competing bills, the "Can Spam Act" sponsored by Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., Heather Wilson`s, R-N.M. "Unsolicited Electronic Mail
Act" would be merged into one, possibly by tomorrow, one House Republican source said Wednesday.
Previously, one of the key differences between the two bills is that Wilson`s legislation relies on an "opt-out" policy, whereby individuals
can file statements with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) saying that they do not want to receive spam messages. The FCC would have been charged with maintaining a list of those names and providing it in some form to spammers. Violators that then sent messages to
individuals on the FCC list would be subject to FCC sanctions and civil penalties.
Miller`s bill, on the other hand, would have allowed ISPs to determine whether or not they want to allow spam on their systems. Under Miller`s bill, an ISP would have a "clear cause of action," to sue a spammer that violated its unsolicited e-mail policy.
The compromise bill would retain language giving ISP`s the ability to sue spammers, said John Cusey, Miller`s press secretary, while the FCC
list idea would most likely be dropped. Cusey said the group still had not finalized the draft, but hoped to have something marked up in committee within a week.
A Republican source close to the negotiations said the FTC would take the place of the FCC as the proposed intermediary between consumers and
ISPs with spam complaints. In addition, the source said, consumers who do not wish to receive spam via an ISP that chooses to allow it would be
able to have their ISP block any incoming junk e-mail. For consumers who still have yet to pick an ISP, the bill could require ISPs to explicitly
state their spam policy.
Both Wilson and Miller`s office have said they are still working out the details, but confirmed some sort of "opt-out" mechanism could still
be included in the compromise bill. |
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