Spam deluge leads to search for silver bullet

Battle promises to be tough

Both the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, otherwise known as "CAN SPAM" (S.630), and the Unsolicited Commercial Electronic E-mail Act (H.R. 718) have languished since receiving committee approval.

The legislative bottleneck has persisted despite the fact that the Direct Marketers Association (DMA) stated in October of 2001 that it would support federal antispam legislation. The DMA's support is not so surprising, however, given that its 4,700 members are also being threatened by the cascade of spam.

"Spam is a huge concern for us because consumers are just erasing everything. They don't know the difference between spam and legitimate marketing," said Christina Duffney, a spokeswoman for the DMA. Spam's impediment to legitimate marketing is especially concerning in a down economy, she added, when many of DMA members are turning to e-mail because it is less expensive.

Given the lack of federal legislation, the DMA set out its own online marketing guidelines, which include listing marketers' information practices on their Web sites, giving consumers the option of opting-out of receiving solicitations, and including a physical address where consumers can direct their concerns.

While the group fully supports opt-out rules, the opt-in approach, which would only allow marketers to contact consumers if they have given their permission to be contacted, has been avoided.

"The problem with opt-in is that a lot of times consumers don't know what the offer is, and how do you know you're interested in something if you don't know what it is?" Duffney said.

There is, however, one thing e-mail users do know that they want, and that's no more spam. Given their frustration, the lobbying for antispam legislation has continued.

But while a number of other proposals, such as implementing a labeling requirement for unsolicited commercial e-mail, are being kicked around, many experts believe that legislation is not the silver bullet. The problem is not only that spam is different for everyone, but also that the nature of spam is constantly changing as spammers work to stay one step ahead of their pursuers.

In fact, a group of Internet experts attending a spam workshop hosted by The Global Internet Project earlier this month in Honolulu outlined their case for taking a multifaceted approach to tackling spam. The group, which included senior executives from major technology and Internet firms, endorsed the adoption of new spam-fighting technologies, end-user education, and rigid enforcement of fraud laws currently on the books.

They warned against looking to new legislation to fight the problem, however, saying that current laws against fraudulent representations already exist, and citizens need to be better educated on how to protect themselves.