ZDNet reports that California has passed significant anti-spam legislation. Penalties include allowing "any Californian who receives an unsolicited ad via e-mail to sue the sender in court for $500 per violation."
Meanwhile, the BBC writes that the UK and EU are ready to implement anti-spam regulation as well.
In Why Am I Getting All This Spam?, the Center for Democracy and Technology suggests methods for combatting spam, but I continue to wonder why this burden is being placed upon us, when, I'm sure, no one wants spam in the first place? Typically, I'm against government regulation, but given that 40% of email is now estimated to be spam, isn't it time for the US government to step in? The cost to US businesses is estimated in the billions, but I'm convinced the nuisance cost to consumers having to delete spam from their inboxes is likely to be even more expensive in terms of our lost time.
Re: Isn't It Time for National Anti-Spam Legislation?
When many of my students don't get e-mails I send them since it is filtered out as spam, I'd say the time is right to get serious about spam. I'm just not sure whether "legislation" will be effective. The subject has been endlessly debated on slashdot, and unfortunately there's no consensus on what to do about it. That's the real problem now--not acknowledging there's a problem, but figuring out how to solve it.
Re: Isn't It Time for National Anti-Spam Legislation?
Legislation, such as that passed in California, may not completely solve the problem of spam, but at least it does give Internet users some legal recourse.
Re: Isn't It Time for National Anti-Spam Legislation?
Well, I couldn't care less about the cost to American businesses. It's the "bottom line" mentality that encourages SPAM in the first place. I hate 'legitimate ads' like television and radio advertising just as much as SPAM...At least I have the option of deleting SPAM without reading it, but I have to endure commercial after commercial on TV and radio.
Perhaps SPAM isn't as bad as we thought. In my view, anything that helps make the Internet less profitable for big business is the key to ensuring its continued survival as a useful resource.
I really think the less the govt. (especially the present administration) is invovled in the Internet the better. If they start making policies, they'll just support big business and hurt us.
Spam, spam, spam!