Antispam bill nears final OK
WASHINGTON -- The Senate yesterday unanimously passed legislation intended to reduce the flood of pornography, herbal supplement advertisements, and other unwanted junk e-mail messages that clog computer inboxes, putting the bill on track to reach President Bush's desk next month.
If signed into law as expected, the legislation would take effect Jan. 1 -- just in time to override a tougher antispam law in California that had sent e-mail marketing firms into a frenzy. The federal law would supercede the 37 laws enacted by states that were frustrated by mountains of spam and the inability of Congress to pass antispam regulations earlier.
Consumer groups say the bill, which must again receive House approval after the Senate made minor wording changes yesterday, may reduce the amount of illicit solicitations from shadowy marketers -- as long as the government enforces the law.
"Congress is saying that spamming is an outlaw business," said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon. But he added that antispam software and other technologies are also needed to help control the junk e-mail flood. "We're not going to pretend this law is a silver bullet."
The legislation may also open the door for legitimate companies to increase their use of e-mail advertising.
"It gives every marketer in the United States one free shot at everyone's e-mail inboxes," said John Mozena, a cofounder of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, an advocacy group.
Many of the tactics used by spammers are already illegal under existing laws. But a dramatic surge in the amount of spam, to more than half of all messages sent across the Internet today, has finally prompted Congress to end a six-year stalemate on how to regulate junk e-mail.
The Senate last month passed the Can Spam Act of 2003, by Wyden and senator Conrad Burns, Republican of Montana, in a 97-0 vote. Two competing antispam bills in the House failed to win enough supporters, but negotiators reached a bipartisan compromise on a slightly tougher version of the Senate bill and pushed it through Saturday, 392-5.
The Senate yesterday made minor wording changes to the bill. The House is expected to approve the amendments Dec. 8, when it returns from recess. Bush has indicated he would sign the antispam bill, which defines spam as "any electronic mail message, the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service."
Excluded is e-mail regarding transactions, such as confirmation of a book purchased online, and messages to existing customers who have not explicitly said they don't want junk e-mail.
California is scheduled to enact a state law Jan. 1 that lets businesses send commercial e-mail only to customers who have declared themselves willing to receive those messages. The federal law, however, allows businesses to send e-mail to anyone who has not asked to stop receiving the messages. Marketers are required to label e-mail containing advertisements and to include an "unsubscribe" Internet link in each e-mail that allows the recipients to request a halt to future e-mail.
But many consumers have grown wary of those unsubscribe links, largely because of illicit spammers. Junk e-mailers often send millions of messages to addresses generated randomly by software programs. The unsubscribe requests merely confirm that the address works, so marketers can send more spam.
The Email Service Provider Coalition, a trade group, is trying to create a registry for bulk e-mailers. The antispam effort, called Project Lumos, would include a stamp of approval for commercial e-mailers that follow certain codes of conduct.
Gail Goodman, a founder of the coalition, praised the federal law.
"It is too difficult for any company to manage the patchwork-quilt of 37 state rules and regulations," said Goodman, CEO of Roving Software Inc., a Waltham company that sends e-mail newsletters and advertisements on behalf of organizations to people who have requested it.
If passed, the law would rely on the federal Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, and state attorneys general to prosecute violators.
Federal regulators "simply aren't going to have enough resources to go after everybody," said Chris Murray, legislative counsel for Consumers Union, the Yonkers, N.Y., group that publishes Consumer Reports. He called the bill "a stumble in the right direction."
The federal law imposes fines of up to $2 million for junk e-mail, and three times as much for egregious spammers, such as those who "hijack" people's computers to distribute spam. Senders of pornographic images or fraudulent product pitches could receive prison sentences of up to five years.
Chris Gaither can be reached at gaither@globe.com.
