The California anti-spam law has made e-mail marketers frantic. Others are banking on the fact that a federal spam bill will pass before the state law, SB 186, goes into effect Jan. 1, 2004.
But at press time, the passage of a federal bill was by no means a sure thing, according to legislative experts.
Rumors abound on Capitol Hill that a Senate measure, Can-Spam, which passed the Senate 97-0 in October, will be introduced for a vote before the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, two House bills (one by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-NM) and one by Rep. Richard Burr (R-NC) are being worked on, and a compromise is not out of the question.
All three bills contain language that would pre-empt all state and local laws on commercial e-mail solicitations, said Jim Conway, vice president of government affairs for the Direct Marketing Association. But one of them would have to pass, with that language intact, and become law before Jan. 1.
Whatever passes, opt-in issues brought up by the California law are bigger than spam.
SB 186 makes it illegal for a marketer to send e-mail to people in the state without their permission.
Other states could follow suit.
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