Spam was under attack from all manner of legislators on Tuesday.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) of California would turn spam-hating consumers into bounty hunters in a bill she was about to introduce in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The governor of Virginia signed what he called the toughest anti-spam law in the nation. And, Rep. W.J. Billy Tauzin of Lousiana was expected to produce his anti-spam offering any day.
The Lofgren bill, which would give a bounty to people who identified a spammer, was announced at an event for Stanford Law students on Tuesday.
Spam is estimated by the Internet industry to represent up to 45% of all e-mail and is expected to cost U.S. businesses more than $10 billion this year.
Lofgren, who represents the 16th Congressional district in California, was expected to introduce the REDUCE Spam Act when the House re-convened Tuesday evening or Wednesday, said spokesman Steve Adamske.
The legislation calls for criminal penalties for fraudulent spam would be put into effect if the bill passes in its current form.
Consumers would receive a bounty of 20% of the civil fine levied by the Federal Trade Commission.
The bill also would require marketers to label bulk commercial spam as “ADV” and bulk adult spam as “ADV:ADLT,” according to a statement put out by Lofgren’s office.
Other provisions require marketers to establish a valid opt-out address; prohibits the sending of e-mail after someone opts out; prohibits false or misleading routing information or deceptive subject headings.
The bill also calls for the FTC to collect civil fines against violators and gives Internet service providers the right to bring civil actions against them.
REDUCE Spam stands for “Restrict and Eliminate Delivery of Unsolicited Commercial E-mail.”
Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA) was also expected to introduce an anti-spam bill this week, sources said. Tauzin’s office did not return calls by press time.
In Virginia, Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) signed into law an amended Computer Crimes Act that would raise the penalty for spam to a felony.
“Hard-core hackers and spammers…will now be faced with a class 6 felony in Virginia, which carries a prison term of between one and five years,” said a statement from the Governor’s office.
Prosecutors and the state attorney general will also be authorized to seize profits, computer equipment and property connected with spamming.
The law was hailed by America Online, which hosted the Governor’s signing ceremony at its Dulles, VA, headquarters. AOL called the law a “much-needed, timely new weapon in the war against spammers,” said an AOL statement.
On Monday, AOL said it was joining with Yahoo and Microsoft to develop a white list-type system to stop spam.
While federal anti-spam bills are coming up before Congress for the sixth year, 26 states have enacted laws prohibiting spam.
On Sunday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he plans to introduce a bill that includes a federal do-not-e-mail list in the Senate.
The CAN Spam bill was introduced in the Senate April 10 by Sens. Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).
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