Comments:

As far as the CAN-SPAM Act goes, it is basically a good idea, but in fact - the only real affect it will have on small businesses is detrimental. The actual spammers already know how to beat the system. They will use servers not based in the USA, they will not be apprehended and know that this law will not affect them. The marketers who have worked very hard to obtain 'opt-in' subscribers for their business or service will be the only ones affected, and as such, the only ones the FTC will go after if they do not comply to the letter of the law. It is indeed unfortunate that email has come to this state - and people that abuse it are very rarely caught. There should be some law in place to where an honest, hard working person that is using email commercially to promote their service or product (whether by email or website) and has proof that the people they are emailing opted in to their newsletter, ezine, etc. (or previous customer) for their information, that they not be subject to fines or scrutiny by the FTC as long as they comply with the intent of CAN-SPAM. As far as 'forwarding to your friends' campaigns, the person that originates the campaign should have an 'opt out' feature in place so that anybody that receives it can do so. If the person that receives such an email from the originator (referred by a friend) does not opt out upon the first email sent to them, that person should be considered as having opted in for the information, until such time that the person opts out. If the person does opt out upon the first email sent them, it should be honored within 24 hrs. or less. There are autoresponders that have the opt out feature included at the bottom of the email, and these kinds of technology should be standard for commercial emails. Any person that refers friends email addresses to the originator of a marketing campaign should do their own due diligence to make sure that the people they refer have an option available to opt out of the campaign. As far as I am concerned, if a friend of mine tells me about it before giving someone my email address, then they are 'off the hook' so to speak. If they give my email address to someone without my permission, then they are liable for the consequences. I do not believe that everybody should have to suffer losses of business because of spam. I do not believe in 'suppression lists' either - these are detrimental to business. If a person receives spam in their email inbox, they should report it to the proper authorities, and opt out of receiving anything further from the spammer. If they continue to send emails to you anyway after having opted out, then serious consequences should be directed at the spammer. If you are going to make laws regarding spam, you should simply raise the consequences of being convicted of spam. Make it a felony, with jail time and large fines - this would do more to curb spam than anything else. Also, spam is not necessarily commercial. Some people who spam get a kick out of doing it, not necessarily for money. Your intent is great, but your solution is not, in my humble opinion. You need to be able to come down on convicted spammers with a sledge hammer! That would send the best message to other spammers. Respectfully submitted - Dave Bowden