Government Intervention


     As the subject of spamming has become more and more controversial, the government has needed to get involved. Unfortunately there are not yet many laws that deal specifically with spam. One law was passed that dealt with the outlawing of junk faxes, and, while some say that it could be applied to spam, it has yet to be used in that manner.*

     Another bill was passed on July 18th 2000, called the "Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2000."** This bill stated that, "Recipients of unsolicited commercial electronic mail have a right to decline to receive or have their children receive unsolicited commercial electronic mail."*** There is, however, a problem with any legislation the government passes. While these law may apply to citizens of the United States, the do not have any bearings on sites in other countries. The Internet is an international network and therefore, if someone wants to set up a site that might be illegal in the US, such as child pornography, all that user needs to do is to use a server from another country. More information about the governments pending legislation for antispam bills can be found at Existing and Emerging Laws on Junk E-mail**** as well as sites such as SB 881 Computer Crimes Act***** or Washington State's Anti-Spam Law****** which gives information about bills already passed.


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* http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/laws.html June 9, 2001.

** http://email.about.com/internet/email/library/weekly/aa072400a.htm?iam=dpile&terms=%2Banti+%2Bspam June 9, 2001.

***http://email.about.com/internet/email/library/weekly/aa072400a.htm?iam=dpile&terms=%2Banti+%2Bspam June 9, 2001.

****http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/laws.html June 9, 2001.

*****http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=991&typ=bil&val=sb881 June 9, 2001.

******http://www.wolfenet.com/~dhillis/2752-s_sl_032798.htm