INFOWORLD GRIPE LINE BY ED FOSTER Bookmark this page

  
Replying To:
It has real teeth -- for the spammers[ Parent ] (none / 0) (#11)
by Ed Foster on Tue Nov 25, 2003 at 06:12:28 PM PDT

This bill legalizes spam. It means the spam message's "Murk" notice is no longer a lie. Proving a spammer is violating this law will be next to impossible, and the FTC isn't going to bother prosecuting small time violators anyway.

Think about what that means. Although the bill claims neutrality on this point, it almost certainly means ISPs will have to give up enforcing terms of usage that prohibit spamming by their customers. How can they deprive anyone of their email account for doing something that is now clearly legal? Instead, ISPs are much likely to compete in offering the most spam-friendly services. Many have been doing so anyway, and now they will have legal cover.

And I am really concerned about what this will ultimately do to the blacklists run by Spamhaus, Spamcop, etc. If the ISPs no longer prohibit spamming, enforcement of the blacklists will be much dicier. The spammers have always talked about suing them; as a result of this law, they might actually be able to do it.

Ed Foster



[ Parent ]


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