ARLINGTON, VA - The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) voiced its opposition to an amendment by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) to create a "do-not-spam" registry, a mechanism intended to disrupt the operations of large volume nuisance e-mailers.
"ITAA believes spam is harmful to buyers and sellers alike and we oppose it, but consumers want effective tools to fight email spam, not empty gestures," said ITAA President Harris N. Miller. "As much as we'd like to think that by putting our name on a list we could eliminate the solicitations for miracle gels and cheap mortgages, the fact of the matter is that legitimate businesses protect their lists and work to prevent abuses, while bad actors do not care how they are perceived and would ignore a 'do not spam' list anyway."
Miller said many people may think that the kind of "do not call" telemarketing registry recently adopted by the Federal Trade Commission would also work to eliminate spam. "The reality is, however, that spam e-mailers are often located offshore, beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. Inside the U.S., the nearly instantaneous nature of the Internet itself makes spam easy to do but hard to trace. Moreover, a 'do not spam' registry could fall into the hands of spammers, becoming a ready source of active email addresses."
A better approach, Miller said, is to review and enforce existing fraud statutes and to criminalize the transmission of email specifically designed to mislead or defraud the public.
The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) provides global public policy, business networking, and national leadership to promote the continued rapid growth of the IT industry. ITAA consists of over 400 corporate members throughout the U.S., and a global network of 50 countries' IT associations.
