Avoid Overbroad Legislation

By Thomas J. Donohue

Spam has become more than a nuisance. Overloading the Internet with illegal emails costs legitimate businesses and consumers about $10 billion every year. It has become so overwhelming that there is strong, bipartisan support in Congress for eradicating this plague.

The House and Senate are working through well thought-out approaches to this insidious problem that will significantly cut back on Spam. The Senate bill would empower the Federal Trade Commission to go after those who actually benefit from Spam - those who hire spammers to sell products and build web traffic. The bills also enhance the ability of law enforcement and Internet providers to go after criminal spammers. These improvements - along with new technology to block Spam and increased cooperation between legitimate businesses and the government - will make real inroads in ridding the Internet of spammers.

On the other hand, there are over-broad proposals, such as a California law, that would cripple legitimate emailers without restricting spammers. Specifically, the California law and other opt-in proposals would make it nearly impossible for companies to communicate with their customers by email - even with customers that elect to receive those messages. This burdensome bill would do absolutely nothing to stop the criminal spammers, who break through Internet filters designed to catch them, who send offensive and misleading emails to an unwilling public. Criminal spammers already ignore laws on the books designed to stop them. In fact, California recently announced a huge fine against two criminal spammers, but the defendants never showed up in court and California is unlikely to collect a dime. Huge fines are not a deterrent to crooks who can hide their identity on the Internet.

What is necessary to stop Spam is a strong federal law that will enable federal enforcement authorities to go after spammers wherever they hide and actually stop the flood of unwanted emails. Unless a strong federal law is enacted, worthless judgments against spammers will mount alongside the growing pile of Spam.

Thomas J. Donohue is President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

As published in USA Today October, 31, 2003.