Comments:

From The Desk of: *REDACTED PERSONAL INFORMATION* 4/15/04Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008To the Commissioners,I have been a CEO for over 15 years and applaud your efforts to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email. However, I am concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists. This type of system will clearly not have an impact on spam and will involve enormous costs for all companies already practicing only permission based marketing.There are so many problems and costs associated with this idea, and so much damage done to consumers and businesses alike, that I feel I must urge you to vote against this matter in the strongest terms.There's also the potential for significant harm to consumers, because of the problem of properly knowing their intent when they unsubscribe from a list. On top of that, these suppression lists will certainly fall into the hands of spammers, leading to more spam instead of less. These people will use any compiled list traveling over the Internet, which they can easily intercept, to add to their own databases.It is very clear that this ruling would cause more problems than it will solve. Other methods to track down and purge spam are required. I think industry will provide solutions but think enforcement of the existing new laws should be the priority of the government today. Cutting off spam from offshore sources by limiting the ability to put millions of emails on the net is a solvable technical problem, where enforcement outside the U.S. is not. Respectfully,Robert NortonPresident C-Level EnterprisesMilford, MassachusettsSincerely,Robert Norton