Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, Thank you for your efforts to curb the irritating problem of unsolicited junk email. While I applaud this effort, I am also concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists. The implementation of this idea will be both costly and complicated, accompanied by a multitude of complex legal problems of interpretation, most of which will be beyond the comprehension of the average marketing entrepreneur. The potential risk for this idea to cause much damage to both consumers and businesses alike is so great, that I feel compelled to urge you to reconsider this matter most carefully. The requirement to use suppression lists will seriously damage many of the legitimate publications available on the internet. I am particularly concerned about the harm to publishers who require permission from the consumer prior to adding them to any list. It is not these publishers for whom CAN-SPAM was designed to put out of business, but that will be the probable outcome of this requirement if it is implemented. There is also the potential for significant harm to consumers, because of the problem of properly knowing their intent when they unsubscribe from a list. Moreover, the likelihood of these suppression lists falling into the hands of spammers is almost guaranteed. Introduction of the proposed ruling would then result in the complete opposite to its intended effect; namely, an increase in spam instead of less. I am quite dismayed at the potential problems this ruling will introduce, and I urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider its implementation in light of these problems. Respectfully, John Moore Jakarta, Indonesia