Comment Number: OL-103470
Received: 4/15/2004 12:06:15 PM
Organization:
Commenter: Mary Frumkin
State: NY
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Rule: CAN-SPAM ANPR
Docket ID: [3084-AA96]
No Attachments

Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I am concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists. There are so many problems and costs associated with this idea, and so much potential damage done to consumers and businesses alike, that I feel I must urge you to consider this matter most carefully. Requirement of the use of suppression lists will seriously damage many of the legitimate publications available on the net. My specific concern is for harm to publishers who require permission from the consumer prior to adding them to any list. They're not who CAN-SPAM was designed to put out of business, but this requirement will very likely 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. On top of that, these suppression lists could easily fall into the hands of spammers, leading to more spam instead of less. To date, CAN-SPAM has not reduced the amount of Spam I personally receive. It doesn't seem to have hurt any of the real offenders. I receive many newsletters that could be seriously harmed by the suppression list regulation. They are published by well- intentioned people who do not deserve to be driven out of business by CAN-SPAM. Mary Frumkin Coeymans Hollow, NY