Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, Because of the time limitations I can not sent a postal submission from New Zealand in time, Please treat this submission as if I written a letter. I am glad that you are making an effort to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email. I am however, concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists. Because of the great number problems and costs associated with this idea, as well as the damage done to consumers and businesses alike, I think that you should give very carefully reconsideration of the matter The CAN-SPAM act was designed to put spammers out of business but the requirement to maintain suppression lists will seriously damage many of the legitimate publications available on the net without having any effect on spammers. 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. As well as that there are serious privacy concerns, these suppression lists could easily fall into the hands of spammers, leading to more spam instead of less. An affiliate of a Company like mine could easily have a computer that does not strong firewall protection and a hacker breaking in would be able to get the list and sell it to the spammers. I was very alarmed 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, Yours Respectfully, Carl Martin Auckland New Zealand