Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I want to applaud your efforts to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email, it's about time someone did something. I am, however, concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists. I am afraid the "cure" could be worse than the "illness" There are so many problems and costs associated with this idea, and so much potential harm done to both businesses and consumers alike, that I feel I must urge you to carefully consider this matter. Requirement of the use of suppression lists will seriously damage virtually all of the legitimate publications available on the net, and as an educator in the high tech field, I subscribe to many of them. My specific concern is for harm to publishers who require permission from the consumer prior to adding them to any list. I am sure they are not who CAN-SPAM was designed to put out of business, but this requirement will most assuredly have that effect. 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. Speaking as an experienced technical person, technical support person and educator, many people aren't sure of what they are doing when it comes to computers, often doing exactly the opposite of what they meant to do. On top of that, these suppression lists could easily fall into the hands of spammers, leading to more spam instead of less. I am quite surprised at the potential problems this ruling could involve, and urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider its implementation in light of these problems, Respectfully, Terry L. Burt Mesa, AZ USA