Legislation
Numerous bills have been introduced into Congress and the House of Representatives to legislate Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE, or Unsolicited Bulk Email, UBE). Most seek to require that the sender of UCEs identify themselves, offer a valid reply address, and provide the recipient a means of removing themselves from the sender's list. Each has its share of proponents and detractors.
One of the primary concerns is that the very act of defining and legislating UBE/ UCE, will in effect sanction it and ultimately lead to an increase in the volume of unwanted email. Another concern is that the burden of stopping spam is placed on the recipient and/or the recipient's Internet Service Provider rather than the message originator. An additional concern is that bulk emailers will simply circumvent US law by moving their operations outside of the country.
A summary of the various bills is presented below:
Email User Protection Act of 1998; sponsored by Rep. Cook. This measure seeks to require that UCEs include a valid reply address and honor "remove" requests. It would also prohibit sending UCE advertisements to subscribers of ISPs that prohibit such messages.
Digital Jamming Act of 1998; sponsored by Rep. Markey. This measure seeks to require that UCEs include the sender's identity and honor "remove" requests. It would also authorize the FCC to create a universal "remove" list.
Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Choice Act of 1997; sponsored by Sen. Murkowski. This measure seeks to require that senders identify each UCE as an "advertisement," to honor "remove" requests, and require that ISPs provide UCE blocking upon request.
Netizens Protection Act of 1997; sponsored by Rep. C. Smith. This measure seeks to amend the TCPA to prohibit unsolicited email advertisements.
Data Privacy Act of 1997; sponsored by Rep. Tauzin. This measure seeks to establish voluntary guidelines requiring that UCEs include the sender's identity, a valid reply address, and honor "remove" requests.
Electronic Mailbox Protection Act of 1997; sponsored by Sen. Torricelli. This bill seeks to restrict email address "harvesting," require that UCEs include the sender's identity, include a valid reply address, and honor "remove" requests.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. This law currently prohibits unsolicited advertisements from being sent to most Fax machines.
See also:
What is Spam Mail?
Why is Spam Mail Bad?
Tracking Spammers: Time savers
Content Filter: Blocking Spam