State lawmakers in Iowa this week joined the ranks of those considering legislation that threatens to wipe legal, adult content out of the e-mail marketplace.
Iowa legislators are considering twin bills that would establish a so-called child protection do-not-e-mail registry similar to those in place in Utah and Michigan.
Under the bills introduced in Iowa’s House and Senate this week, parents and guardians would be able to register minors’ e-mail addresses and other contact points as off limits to e-mail containing content or links content illegal for minors to view or buy.
Dubbed “The Iowa Kids No E-Contact Act,” the legislation would require marketers who want to include adult-oriented content in their outbound e-mail to scrub their lists against Iowa’s registry once a month. Using Iowa’s registry would cost up to $3 per thousand addresses checked.
Utah charges $5 per thousand addresses screened. Michigan charges $7 per thousand addresses screened. Georgia state legislators are considering a child-protection registry bill that would charge e-mailers as much as $10 per thousand addresses checked. That bill is expected to pass easily out of the Georgia state Senate.
An Illinois lawmaker recently killed a bill he had planned to introduce that was modeled after Michigan’s bill.
The states are introducing these bills as a result of lobbying from Unspam LLC, the company that runs the registries in Michigan and Utah. Unspam’s president, Matthew Prince, is also helping the state legislators craft their do-not-e-mail bills.
According to a recent report, Prince claims legislators from California, Ohio, Texas, Florida, Missouri, and New York have also contacted Unspam about crafting do-not-e-mail legislation.
Since it is difficult to know an e-mail recipient’s location, marketers believe they must either stop sending e-mail with adult content or use each state’s registry on a monthly basis. Many believe it won’t take too many states to establish so-called child protection registries before it is too expensive to legally send adult-oriented e-mail
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