CONGRESSIONAL ANTI-SPAM ACTION

The first, entitled "The Unsolicited Commercial Email Choice Act of 1997" (S. 771), was introduced by Senator Frank Murkowski of Alaska. As originally written, this bill was not a ban on spam, but rather a proposed set of regulations (and penalties for failure to comply) to be placed upon commercial advertisers who distribute e-mail. It also included requirements that all online services must provide their subscribers with filtering systems to block unwanted advertising. This approach was favored by the spammers and frowned upon by the anti-spam movement on the grounds that it "legitimizes" spam and forces online services to bear the financial burden of blocking it. This bill can be read by visiting The Library of Congress and entering "S. 771" in the box marked "2. Bill Number:".

(NOTE: On May 13, 1998, the Murkowski bill was unanimously passed by the Senate, but with multiple crippling concessions that rendered it worse than useless. Senator Murkowski has issued a comment about the current status of the bill and his future plans for pursuing it.)

The second bill, entitled "The Netizens Protection Act of 1997" (H.R. 1748), was introduced by Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey. It attempts to ban unsolicited commercial e-mail entirely by amending the Communications Act of 1934, which currently forbids unsolicited advertising by fax. This bill can be read by visiting The Library of Congress and entering "H.R. 1748" in the box marked "2. Bill Number:".

The third bill, which I consider to be the weakest of the three, is entitled "The Electronic Mailbox Protection Act of 1997" (S. 875), submitted by Senator Torricelli. This bill is mostly concerned with banning the collection and sale of private e-mail addresses for the purposes of sending unsolicited mass mailings. Unfortunately, it contains a lot of unenforceable gibberish about what the spammer "knows" and "intends". This bill can be read by visiting The Library of Congress and entering "S. 875" in the box marked "2. Bill Number:".