Although one congressional committee yesterday unanimously approved legislation tightening government controls over unsolicited commercial e-mail, another panel must still approve the measure before it can be voted upon by the full House.
Despite the misgivings of some of its members, the House Commerce Committee yesterday unanimously approved an amended version of the Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act (HR-718) which won the overwhelming support of its telecommunications subcommittee a week earlier.
But before the full House can consider the bill, cosponsored by Reps. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Gene Green (D-TX), it must win the endorsement of the House Judiciary Committee and its subcommittee on crime.
So far, there has been no indication from either Reps. John Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairmen of the full committee and subcommittee respectively, of when the measure would be considered by one or both panels.
During the Commerce Committee discussions on the measure, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), who eventually voted for it, voiced concern over a provision that permits Internet Service Providers (ISP's) to establish their own anti-spam policies saying it could block legitimate commercial e-mails.
At the same time several other panel members expressed reservations about a provision in the bill preventing state attorneys general from recouping their costs of suing violators.
Eventually, though, they did vote for the measure which prohibits senders of unwanted or unsolicited commercial e-mails from hiding their true identities, addresses and telephone numbers or using someone else's name, address, or telephone number in or on their e-mails. The bill also authorizes the Federal Communications and Federal Trade Commissions, in addition to individuals and state authorities to sue violators who face civil penalties of $500 per incident.
Tuesday similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), called the CAN-SPAM Act (S-630).
The measure is similar to an earlier bill they sponsored, which died in committee with the expiration of the 106th Congress, would, like the House bill, require senders of unsolicited commercial e-mails to fully and accurately identify themselves and obtain a person's permission before sending them their unsolicited materials.
But, it would subject violators to civil and criminal fines of up to $500,000 and a year in jail.
While the House bill would give the Federal Communications and Trade Commissions authority over unsolicited e-mails, the Burns/Wyden measure would grant similar authority to other federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
