Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I fully support all efforts, in the US and across the European Union to curb the plague of unsolicited bulk email. However, I am very worried about the proposal that will require businesses, who use e-mail as a communication channel with customers and prospects, to maintain suppression lists. If this requirement is enforced it will seriously damage many legitimate and law abiding businesses. Tha vast majority of businesses who use e-mail as a marketing tool already go to great lengths to ensure that recipients have given explicit permission to send e-mails. I don't believe CAN-SPAM is intended to penalise legitimate businesses using e-mail as a promotional tool. But, if the latest proposals are enforced I can see no other outcome than many, if not all, existing and legitimate publishers being forced to wind up their businesses. The costs, time and complexity of trying to conform to the new proposals will be crippling. I can also see these proposals having completely the reverse effect of what's intended. I can see suppression lists falling into the hands of what I can only describe as the criminal SPAM community. They will not hesitate to use suppression lists to add to their own lists. They must be excited at the prospect of easily getting their hands on validated lists of e-mail addresses. As I said, I fully support all efforts to reduce SPAM. Sadly I am alarmed at the clear damage this proposal will have on legitimate businesse. I politely urge you to revisit the proposal in light of the evident problems it will introduce for the community of businesses that CAN-SPAM is not directed at. Respectfully, Mark Byers Managing Director BKARM Limited United Kingdom