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| House Committee Passes Anti-Spam Bill |
June 14, 2000 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 2000 JUN 14 (NB) -- David McGuire, Newsbytes. The powerful House Commerce Committee today unanimously approved legislation aimed at stemming the flow of unsolicited commercial e-mail - otherwise known as "spam."
It took the committee just minutes to amend and pass the long-debated Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2000, which would, among
other things, give Internet service providers broader powers to keep spam out of their customers` inboxes.
"I hope this will give (people), particularly parents, the power to stop junk e-mail from reaching their kids," Heather Wilson, R-N.M.,said following the vote.
Wilson, who co-sponsored the spam bill, also co-authored today`s amendment, which tightens some of the definitions in the original language and makes the bill more impervious to attacks on First Amendment grounds, supporters say.
Specifically, the amendment revises a codicil in the original language that would have forced spammers to include a government-approved spam notice in the text of all unsolicited e-mail messages. Some civil liberties groups had argued that the provision called for "compelled speech," and could have potentially violated the First Amendment rights of spammers.
While the new language still requires that spammers label their messages as advertisements, it removes a requirement that those labels be drafted by the Federal Trade Commission and mandated for all spammers.
Although Wilson would have preferred that the notice be standardized, she said the concession is a welcome tradeoff if it prevents the legislation from becoming mired in litigation.
Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) attorney Deirdre Mulligan, who attended today`s vote, said that the revised labeling language
alleviated many of her First Amendment concerns surrounding the bill.
Mulligan remains concerned, however, about language in the legislation that would allow ISPs to file claims in federal court against spammers
who failed to adhere to ISP contractual language surrounding unsolicited e-mail.
"ISP policy shouldn`t become de facto federal law," she said.
In the Senate, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., has drafted companion legislation, which is currently under consideration by the Senate Commerce Committee`s Communications Subcommittee.
Wilson said she is optimistic that the Senate legislation will very closely resemble the House bill. |
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