Bill to stop e-mail spam will do just the opposite

[Robbien]

December 10, 2003\
BY MIKE WENDLAND FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

The anti-spam bill passed by Congress on Monday is destined to be about as effective as those sexual enhancement products touted in the junk e-mail that clogs the world's in-box. In fact, what it most likely means is you'll get even more spam come next year -- from more people and on more devices, like cell phones, pagers, and those ubiquitous personal digital assistants that people carry around for mobile communications.

Congress calls it the CAN-SPAM Act; that's shorthand for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing. But the anti-spam movement, which pleaded in vain with the politicians to put some real teeth in the legislation, calls it the Yes, You Can Spam Act. The spam fighters say people like Alan Ralsky of West Bloomfield, said to be the world's No. 1 bulk e-mailer, must be in very good spirits today. "Ralsky can breathe easy because he is only going to get bigger," says Steve Linford, head of the London-based anti-spam group Spamhaus (www.spamhaus.org). "So are the 200 or so other big spammers who account for 90 percent of the spam the world gets. And this very bad law your Congress passed is going to make many more spammers join them because instead of prohibiting spam, it legalizes it."

That's not how they see it on Capitol Hill. "Congress cleared the way for American families to find relief," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., one of the measure's sponsors, who called CAN-SPAM "an important step toward stopping the kingpin spammers and stemming the flow of garbage into America's in-boxes."

But outside of Washington, it's hard to find anyone familiar with the massive spam problem who has anything good to say about the legislation, which President George W. Bush has indicated he will sign. John Mozena of Grosse Pointe Woods, who has become a national leader in the fight against spam through a group called the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail, says the bill "fails the most basic tests for anti-spam legislation: It doesn't tell anybody not to spam."

http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend10_20031210.htm

[Raine]

1. I might have known

that nothing good is coming out of Washinton especially if the chimp signs it you can be sure it is absolutely worthless. :argh:

[Robbien]

2. Me too. When this bill passed I thought it was a great idea.

Didn't stop to think it might be the usual useless garbage this administration spews out until I ran across this article. Just another gotcha. Again.