RL31953
Junk E-mail: An Overview of Issues and Legislation Concerning Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail ("Spam")
October 06, 2003

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University of North Texas Libraries

Summary:

Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), also called "spam" or "junk e-mail," aggravates many computer users. Not only can spam be a nuisance, but its cost may be passed on to consumers through higher charges from Internet service providers who must upgrade their systems to handle the traffic. Also, some spam involves fraud, or includes adult-oriented material that offends recipients or that parents want to protect their children from seeing. Proponents of UCE insist it is a legitimate marketing technique that is protected by the First Amendment. While 36 states have anti-spam laws, there is no federal law specifically concerning spam. Nine "antispam" bills are pending in the 108th Congress: H.R. 1933 (Lofgren), H.R. 2214 (BurrTauzin-Sensenbrenner), H.R. 2515 (Wilson-Green), S. 563 (Dayton), S. 877 (BurnsWyden), S. 1052 (Nelson-FL), S. 1231 (Schumer), S. 1293 (Hatch), and S. 1327 (Corzine). Two (S. 877 and S. 1293) have been reported from committee. Tables providing brief "side-by-side" comparisons of the bills are included at the end of this report. Publicity about the National Do Not Call registry through which consumers can indicate that they do not want to receive telemarketing phone calls is raising questions about whether a parallel "do not spam" registry should be created. Two of the pending bills (S. 563 and S. 1231) would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create such a registry. However, FTC Chairman Timothy Muris has cautioned in congressional testimony and elsewhere that consumers should not expect any legislation to be a "silver bullet" for solving the spam problem. In an August 2003 speech to the Aspen Institute, he specifically warned that he does not believe a "do not spam" registry would be enforceable or noticeably reduce spam. Though he sees a role for legislation (to enhance the ability to track down spammers, establish penalties, and determine standards for non-deceptive UCE), he insists that a combination of consumer education, technological advancements, and legislation is needed to address the problem. Spam on wireless devices such as cell phones is discussed in CRS Report RL31636, Wireless Privacy: Availability of Location Information for Telemarketing. State spam laws, and an existing federal law (the Computer Fraud and Abuse statute) that currently is being used to bring suit against spammers, are discussed in CRS Report RL31488, Regulation of Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail. This report will be updated as events warrant.