Spam Bill in Congress

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5110622.html

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Other sections of the bill prohibit the following:

•_Falsifying e-mail header information or using either a mail server or open relay to "deceive or mislead recipients" about the origin of a commercial e-mail message. Also outlawed is registering for "5 or more" e-mail accounts or "2 or more domain names" with false information and using them to send commercial e-mail messages. Penalties include up to three years in prison for a first offense.

•_Sending commercial e-mail with deceptive subject lines that "would be likely to mislead a recipient."

•_Sending commercial e-mail that does not include "a functioning return" address or a link to a Web form that is capable of accepting unsubscribe requests.

•_E-mail address "harvesting" by crawling Web sites and automated guessing of e-mail addresses by trying [email protected], [email protected] and so on.

•_Using automated methods such as scripts to sign up for free Web-based e-mail accounts such as ones provided by Hotmail or Yahoo.

•_Sending commercial e-mail with "sexually oriented material" unless it includes a label to be devised by the FTC. That requirement does not apply to opt-in lists. Violations can be punished by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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I do not like spam, but the fact is that this is the first step in outlawing the freedom of speech. What are your views on this? How do you feel?

-Cheers-

Good luck to them. It's great to have a law like this but a) who will enforce it? b) what do you do about those from outside the country? c) blind-spoofed spam will leave the footprint of someone else who may get falsily accused/arrested/charged -- how will they prove where the spam in fact came from?

As for freedom of speech, it hard to censor someone when they are a moving target.

My only thought/problem with this is that its not the first one. Congress has passed several SPAM laws before, and they have been rather loosely inforced. Its something that is hard to deal with.

The other problem is that many spammers use off-shore servers, and aren't really under US Law.

If they can make it work, and get the laws to do some good, that'll be great. My hopes just aren't that high.

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As for freedom of speech, it hard to censor someone when they are a moving target.

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Lol

-Cheers-

while i dont think that this in anyway represents a threat to freedom of speech it also isnt an attempt to stop spam. its an attempt to "re-gu-late" spam. translated means: "You can Email all the un-solicited trash you want to anybody you want as long as you purchase a permit".

not as bad as an internet tax...but one step closer

I think it's a good idea, and would work, but it needs some work. I think it would be better if it were adopted by an international organization, like the UN. The US can only control what happens inside the US.

As for enforcement, I don't think it would much of an issue; if the bill were to pass, all you would have to do is complain, and I'm sure there would be plenty of contacts avalible should a complaint arise. The ip of the email would, in most cases be tracible, and... busted!

The possible security risks of spam to a user are more of a concern than the free speech of a corporation that has many other means and media to advertise. Their free speech isn't being totaly overlooked; people can still opt in for email lists and newsletters, should they choose to.

I also think email users must take an initiative to prevent Spammers from getting their email addresses.

Finally, I think that if the anti-telemarketer list can work, this could work.

-Julien