Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, It is commendable that you propose efforts to curb and/or eliminate unsolicited bulk email, a.k.a. SPAM, however, I am concerned about the proposed suppression lists requirement for online merchants. I feel I must urge you to consider this matter again. Requirement for the use of suppression lists will seriously damage many of the legitimate publications available online. My specific concern is centered around the harm to newsletter and ezine publishers, who today require consumers' permission prior to sending them any list email. Such a requirement would put me, and most other publishers who already require affirmative consent, in an ethically and legally untenable position. Additionally, those business persons who follow-up with back-end offers to their customers can likewise unknowingly be victimized unfairly. 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. True opt-in (affirmative consent) lists which have a working unsubscribe function are not the problem. Anyone can control the mail they get from these lists, easily and absolutely. They simply choose which they want to receive and which they want to stop receiving. On top of that, these suppression lists could easily fall into the hands of spammers, leading to more spam instead of less. I am overwhelmed at the potential problems and costs this ruling would involve, that I urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider its implementation. Yours respectfully, Hilda Johnson-Slaton State of Georgia, Cobb County