The Direct Marketing Association has urged Congress to allocate additional federal funds to support expanded anti-spam initiatives and enforcement of the federal CAN-SPAM Act to protect legitimate e-mail communications.

“The CAN-SPAM Act is working, but greater enforcement will improve that performance. We need to build on the recent litigation successes of federal and state agencies, and the private sector, by duplicating those efforts more broadly through industry and dedicating additional resources to law enforcement,” said Jerry Cerasale, senior VP-government affairs for the DMA, in a prepared statement.

The average number of spam offers received by consumers on a weekly basis has declined to 78, compared to 137 per week one year ago, according to a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. on behalf of the DMA. In addition the percent of e-mail viewed as spam declined to 53.1% in February of this year, compared to 60.4% in February 2004.

While the overall volume of spam has reduced, the higher volume of spam compared to legitimate e-mail continues to inhibit consumer trust and threaten e-commerce, according to Cerasale.

The Direct Marketing Association has urged Congress to allocate additional federal funds to support expanded anti-spam initiatives and enforcement of the federal CAN-SPAM Act to protect legitimate e-mail communications.

“The CAN-SPAM Act is working, but greater enforcement will improve that performance. We need to build on the recent litigation successes of federal and state agencies, and the private sector, by duplicating those efforts more broadly through industry and dedicating additional resources to law enforcement,” said Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs for the DMA, in a prepared statement.

The average number of spam offers received by consumers on a weekly basis has declined to 78, compared to 137 per week one year ago, according to a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. on behalf of the DMA. In addition the percent of e-mail viewed as spam declined to 53.1% n February of this year, compared to 60.4 in February 2004.

While the overall volume of spam is has been reduced, the higher volume of spam compared to legitimate e-mail continues to inhibit consumer trust and threaten e-commerce, according to Cerasale.