To encourage quick and strong enforcement of the new CAN-SPAM law, Burns and Wyden wrote Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Timothy Muris last week requesting that the agency to move promptly to prepare enforcement cases against high-volume "kingpin" spammers, so that when the law comes into effect on January 1, 2004, the FTC will be in a position to take high-profile enforcement actions without delay.
Worldwide, more than 13 billion spam e-mail messages are sent each day, comprising about half of all e-mail traffic. Spam costs an estimated $10 billion per year due to expenses for anti-spam equipment, manpower and lost productivity. The act specifically targets deceptive messages sent by large-volume spammers, who often hide their identities, use misleading subject lines, and refuse to honor opt-out requests from spam recipients.
The final CAN-SPAM Act includes damages of up to $250 per spam e-mail with a cap of $2 million that can be tripled for aggravated violations. There is no cap on damages for e-mails using false or deceptive headers, the cap does not apply. Additionally, the final bill enhances FTC enforcement authority.
The bill requires senders of commercial e-mail to include an enforceable opt-out mechanism, prohibits false and deceptive headers and subject lines, increases monetary damages imposed on spammers who engage in particularly nefarious spamming techniques, and includes strong, multi-pronged enforcement by the FTC, state attorneys general, and Internet service providers (ISPs) with the potential for multi-million dollar judgments. Additional criminal provisions in the bill create several tiers of penalties, ranging up to five years in prison, for several common spamming practices.
