WASHINGTON-Legislative relief from spam, including wireless devices, moved one step closer Tuesday when the Senate passed the Can Spam Act by voice vote.
“We have all seen the negative impacts of spam and know that the toxic sea of spam threatens to engulf the very medium of e-mail. The passage of the Can Spam Act will help to stem the tide of this digital train wreck,” said Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate communications subcommittee and a sponsor of the bill.
The bill passed by the Senate is slightly different from a version passed by the House by a 392-to-5 vote Saturday, so it must go back to the House for final approval. President Bush is expected to sign it.
The bill includes a provision seeking to ban transmissions of unsolicited commercial e-mail to mobile phones without prior consent of subscribers.
“What I tried to do with my provision on cell phones was to do today what we were going to be forced to do in two or three years anyway,” said Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.).
The Markey amendment advocates an opt-in approach to mobile spam, but still gives the Federal Communications Commission the discretion of setting an opt-out rule. In contrast, wireline Internet consumers would be restricted to having to opt out of unwanted electronic advertising.
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act is modeled closely after the new Do-Not-Call registry in telemarketing legislation. As such, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general have the authority to enforce new anti-spam guidelines. But unlike the telemarketing legislation, it includes a specific provision authorizing the FTC to create a Do-Not-Spam Registry. Congress was forced to pass special legislation earlier this year when a federal judge said the FTC did not have the authority to create the popular Do-Not-Call Registry. Congress is said to have passed the special legislation faster than in any other non-war-related case.
“I want to say something to all of the federal judges in this country. This legislation specifically authorizes the FTC to implement a Do-Not-Spam Registry. There will be a Do-Not-Spam Registry in our future,” said Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee. “Very soon a Do-Not-Spam Registry will be available. You will be able to call and have your name added to that registry. We are giving Americans an important tool to stop things they don’t want coming into their home or on their phone or on the e-mail.”
