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Existing and Emerging Laws on Junk E-mail

Existing related laws

• US Code 47.5.II, section 227 The Junk Fax Law - This is the law that many credit as being passed due to Sanford Wallace's earlier junk-fax business (see NY Times articles above for citation). Although much of the language in this law *appears* to be applicable to computers and e-mail, the actual concept hasn't yet been tested in court or had firm ruling. However, this law *could* easily be modified to clearly include junk e-mail as well. See proposed federal legislation below which does just that.

• Ohio Revised Code sections 2913.01-04 - Portions of the Ohio Fraud and Theft laws which apply to use of computers beyond the consent of the owner dated 1 July 1996.

• The Internet Engineering Task Force, which is the source of the RFCs which governs Internet use and transmission protocols has taken a position on the junk mail/spam issue. While not strictly 'laws', the RFCs are the social and technical guidelines which allow the Internet to function. The Responsible Use of the Network (RUN) working group has their charter page at: http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/run-charter.html.
  In addition, the draft Guidelines for Mass Unsolicited Mailings and Postings is available at: ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-run-spew-02.txt.

Proposed Legislation

• Federal - House of Representatives - New Jersey Congressman Christopher Smith has drafted a bill which modifies the junk fax law by including an electronic e-mail address of an individual in the existing prohibition against sending unsolicited advertising transmissions to fax machines. This law is truly 'opt-in' and is worthy of support by consumers and ISPs alike.
  • The Bill Introduction Statement for the Record is available at http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/Smith.bill.intro.html
  • The text of the bill itself is available at http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/Smith.bill.html

• Federal - Senate - Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski has offered a bill S.771 which mandates tagging of UCE with 'advertisement' in the subject line, receiver-end filtering, and use of 'remove' lists. It gives the FTC and FCC direction for enforcement of this plan, and requires receiver-end ISPs to install the mandated filtering software within 2 years. This bill clearly misses the point of UCE imposing recevier cost, dumpping the burden of UCE directly on the receiving ISP and their customers. This bill and supporting documentation is available on Senator Murkowski's web pages at

• Federal - Senate - Sen. Torricelli's 'Electronic Mailbox Protection Act of 1997' focuses on prohibiting falsified headers and sources for any commercial mail, while requiring 'opt-out' remove lists to be honored. This bill is seen so far as only marginally better than the Murkowski bill in that it still allows mailboxes to be flooded with 'one-time' and 'first-time' spams. Info on this bill is at:
  http://www.vtw.org/uce/

• California - AB-1629, introduced by Assembly Member Miller on 5 Jan 1998, followed the model of US Rep Smith in prohibiting unsoliticed advertising mail unless there was an existing relationship with the recipient, or permission was granted to receive it. The bill was amended in the CA Assembly on 12 March 1998, and narrows the scope somewhat. It establishes somewhat 'keep off the grass' situation for ISPs and e-mail domains. It proposes strong language which clearly allows mail service providers (ISPs) to establish rules for their users regarding sending of unsolicited advertising mail. It also clearly allows for an ISP to publish a prohibition against use of their facilities for reception of such mail, and establishes civil right of action against violators to the tune of $50 per message up to $15,000 per day. A particularly appealing aspect of the language is that it clearly establishes the system owner's right to define how his property is used. This one looks like a winner unless decimated by the DMA as was the case in Nevada.
  Text and status of this bill is available at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_1629&sess=CUR&house=A .

• Colorado - This bill treats unsolicited fax transmissions as a deceptive trade practice. It requires a toll-free number in any transmission which can be used to request removal from future transmissions. It further requires notice to the consumer of sale of any list containing their fax number. Despite the introduction to the bill specifically including 'electronic mail' provisions, the actual *text* of the bill which would be used to revise the state statute mentions *only* facsimile transmissions.

  Full text at: http://www.jmls.edu/cyber/statutes/email/cohb1284.html

• Connecticut - http://www.jmls.edu/cyber/statutes/email/cthb6558.html

• Maryland - MD House Bill 778 includes electronic mail under telephone harassment law. Not really an anti-spam bill, the language dosen't speak to junk advertising mail per-se, but seems more aimed at use of e-mail for harassment. While junk ad e-mail may be 'annoying', it likely would be a tough legal hurdle to use that issue against spam. The bill is at: http://mlis.state.md.us/1997rs/billfile/hb0778.htm

• Massachusets - MA House Bill 4581, presented by Rep. Patricia D. Jehlen (D), is patterend after the Nevada proposed legislation below. It simply forbids unsolicited advertising mail unless a pre-existing relationship exists or permission is granted by the recipient. First hearing is due 23 June. Penalties and other details will likely be added.

  The bill text is at:

  http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/MA.law.html

  The official state legislative page on this bill (which seems to lack any pointer to the actual bill itself) is at:

  http://www.state.ma.us/legis/history/h04581.htm

  Further information regarding this legislation may be obtained from or comments directed to:

  
  Joint Committee on Government Regulations
  State House
  Boston, MA 02133

  Rep. Jehlen can be reached at
  phone: (617) 722-2676
  fax: (617) 722-2897
  E-mail: Rep.PatriciaJehlen@house.state.ma.us .
  Snail: Room 275, State House, Boston, MA 02133

• Nevada - NV state Senator William J. Raggio (R) (e-mail address: wraggio@sen.state.nv.us) has filed a bill, SB-13, in the Nevada legislature which would make it illegal to send unsolicited e-mail 'to solicit a person to purchase real property, goods or services.'

  Text of the original bill can be found at:

  - Original text (27 March 97): http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/NVlaw.html

  - More recent versions and revision history on the state's server: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Bills/tracking/Detail.CFM?dbo_in_intro__introID=56

  A C/Net article dated 20 January 1997 about this bill hilights pros and cons of the wording at

  http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,7194,00.html
  An article at WCCO radio's website dated 27 Feb 1997:
  http://www.wcco.com/pub_archive/1997/Feb/news-Feb-27-11:35:47.html

FLASH! THEY SCREWED IT UP! - 9 July - A last minute Assembly Amendment inserted at the urging of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has turned this pro-consumer legislation into pro-spam, and the Governor signed it! The final law only requires that UCE contain the address of the sender and instructions for removal from future mailings. There are NO requirements that senders actually *perform* removals, nor are there penalties for failing to do so. As written, the law even allows junk mailers to *CHARGE* for 'removals'!

Note also that the law does not go into effect until 1 July 1998.

- The final version on the state's server: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/97bills/SB/SB13_EN.HTM

Key addresses to write:

• governor@govmail.state.nv.us
  
• wraggio@sen.state.nv.us
• New York - NY State Senator Alesi, at the urging of the NY State Attorney General is sponsoring a bill (S03524) which provides that all unsolicited mail be clearly identified as such, carry the name, address, and phone number of the sender, provide easy and sure way to ensure removal from mailing lists. This bill also makes it unlawful to sell e-mail lists unless those on the lists have expressly given permission for distribution of their names.

  - Current status: http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/showbill?billnum=S03524
  - Current language: http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/showtext?billnum=S03524

  Contact addresses:

  NY State Senate
  Senator Alesi
  Rm 905
  Legislative Office Building
  Albany, New York 12247

• Florida
• Virginia -- These states are reported or rumored to have some legislation in the works, but no further information is available at this time.

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PUBLIC NOTICE: Use of Tigerden computer and network facilities for the purpose of transmitting unsolicited commercial advertising electronic mail to any user or account on or through Tigerden machines is expressly PROHIBITED. Appearance of any e-mail address on these pages does *NOT* constitute solicitation of advertising email.

Last revised: 9 July 1997