House Passes E-mail 'Spam' Control Bill
Dateline: 07/18/00
The U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 427-1 a bill designed to help Internet users prevent receipt of unsolicited commercial or sexually-oriented e-mail messages, typically referred to as "spam."
The bill, H.R. 3113 - Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2000, sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson (R - NM). will make it illegal for senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) messages to send messages without a "conspicuously displayed" valid e-mail address to which the recipient may send a reply indicating that they do not wish to receive any further messages. (Typically referred to as an "opt-out" message.) Once so notified, the sender must remove the recipient from any and all mailing lists under their control. Continuing to send unsolicited commercial e-mail messages to persons who had "opted-out" would result in a violation of the law.
The specific requirements of H.R. 3113 as quoted from the text of the bill are:
(1) INCLUSION OF RETURN ADDRESS- It shall be unlawful for any person to initiate the transmission of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message to any person within the United States unless such message contains a valid electronic mail address, conspicuously displayed, to which a recipient may send a reply to the initiator to indicate a desire not to receive any further messages.(2) PROHIBITION OF TRANSMISSION AFTER OBJECTION- If a recipient makes a request to a person to be removed from all distribution lists under the control of such person, it shall be unlawful for such person to initiate the transmission of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message to such a recipient within the United States after the expiration, after receipt of such request, of a reasonable period of time for removal from such lists. Such a request shall be deemed to terminate a pre-existing business relationship for purposes of determining whether subsequent messages are unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages.
(3) ACCURATE ROUTING INFORMATION- It shall be unlawful for any person who initiates the transmission of any unsolicited commercial electronic mail message to any person within the United States to take any action that causes any Internet routing information contained in or accompanying such message--
(A) to be inaccurate;(B) to be invalid according to the prevailing standards for Internet protocols; or(C) to fail to accurately reflect the routing of such message.(4) INCLUSION OF IDENTIFIER AND OPT-OUT- It shall be unlawful for any person to initiate the transmission of any unsolicited commercial electronic mail message to any person within the United States unless the message provides, in a manner that is clear and conspicuous to the recipient--(A) identification that the message is an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message; and(B) notice of the opportunity under paragraph (2) not to receive further unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages from the initiator.
The bill also authorizes Internet service providers (ISPs) and other providers of interactive online services to establish and enforce their own nondiscriminatory policies for dealing with senders unsolicited commercial e-mail. (To read the Congress' findings in favor of this bill, read Findings of the Congress on Unsolicited Commercial E-mail.)
Reference Links
Findings of the Congress on Unsolicited Commercial E-mail
A report from the House Committee on Commerce showing the opinions of Congress that went into the creation of the Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2000.
All About Spam and Getting Rid of It
E-mail Guide Heinz Tschabitscher is all too familiar with Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail - Spam - and can tell you how to identify and stop it. Well, slow it down, at least.
Tired of all that unsolicited email? Learn how to clean up your AOL mailbox and take out the trash. From AOL Guide Sharon Gillson.
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