Comments:

To the Commissioners, Thank you for helping to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email. I have myself been troubled by the increase in use of this as an advertising tool. However, 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 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. I have certainly asked to be a part of many lists which serve the purpose of educating me on my business and related topics. I also run an online business which encourages others to "opt-in" if interested in our topic and they are then added to our monthly newsletter list. They can, of course, "opt-out" at any time, but we provide monthly updates on teambuilding, give helpful hints, free articles, audio interviews and the like to give our subscribers what they are looking for. I was 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, Anne R. Heck TeachMeTeamwork.com North Carolina, USA