Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida) said his bill would give federal authorities the power to apply racketeering laws against email marketers who hide their true identities by using forged email addresses.
At a hearing before the Federal Trade Commission in May, technology experts and industry officials testified that at least 45 percent of all email sent falls under the category of unsolicited spam, about two-thirds of which promotes bogus products or business offers.
"People in this country are getting fed up," Nelson said. "They can't even turn on their computer, they can't even get their e-mail.
"...All across America there is a cry, 'Enough already!'"
Under Nelson's law, businesses would be allowed to send unsolicited e-mail only if they:
Violators of Nelson's anti-spam law could face fines and up to five years in federal prison.
These Guys are Brazen
In announcing his proposed law, Sen. Nelson told reporters that his spokeswoman typically spends over 45 minutes a day deleting spam from her email account, including ads for Internet sex sites.
"You would think these guys would have more sense than to send it to a United States senator," Nelson said. "That shows you their brazenness."
Nelson expects to introduce his anti-spam law to the Senate during the week of May 12.
