Men Issues

Fighting Spam the California Way

The days of unregulated e-mail spam may be coming to an end, say some California lawmakers.

As part of a revitalized effort to rewrite current consumer protection laws against spamming, many say the laws are simply not strong enough to remedy the estimated 300 billion spam e-mails that U.S. Internet users are expected to receive in 2003 alone.

Taking the lead in the charge to eliminate these unwanted and sometimes offensive e-mails, is Democratic State Sen. Debra Bowen, who wants to enforce a ban on commercial advertising via e-mail and make it legal for the recipients of those unwanted e-mails to sue the sender.

Sen. Bowen's bill, SB 12, was introduced in December 2002 and proposes that all unsolicited commercial e-mails to Californians, from either inside or outside the state, regardless of whether the recipient is a private resident, a business, or a non-profit, be termed illegal.

The punishment, according to Bowen's bill, would be a minimum penalty of $500 per violation.

An enduring anti-spam advocate, Bowen was behind a 1998 consumer protection law against spam that in many ways served as the first warning shot to companies and individuals who engage in unsolicited e-mail campaigns. Although the 1998 spam law was challenged in court right out of the gate and was only recently upheld by the California Court of Appeals in January of last year.

According to the 1998 law, which mirrored similar laws at a federal level, a sender of an unsolicited commercial e-mail to a California resident is required to provide contact information in the form of either a valid e-mail address or a toll free telephone number so that recipients can request their names be dropped from the mailing list.

Senders are also required to indicate that their e-mail is advertising by putting 'ADV' in the subject line, or 'ADV:ADLT' for adult content.

But other than a few flagship cases, the law has not had a widespread effect on those who send unwanted e-mails and those who receive them, many of whom figure that pushing the delete button on their keyboards is far easier than pursuing legal action.

Under the shield of the 1998 consumer protection law, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit in October 2002 against the owners and operators of an e-mail marketing company called PW Marketing LLC, which was accused of sending millions of unsolicited commercial e-mails promoting books and software designed to help establish other illegal e-mail campaigns.

The owners of the business claimed to be in possession of a list containing upwards of 4 million e-mail addresses belonging to California residents and businesses.

The attorney general's lawsuit marked the first legal pursuit of e-mail spammers since the 1998 law was enacted, but few have followed in its footsteps and the public at large has remained relatively uninformed about their rights against spammers.

"It has taken a while for consumers to kick in help," said a spokesperson for Lockyer's office.

But Sen. Bowen's revamped version of the 1998 law is stronger than the current law, said a spokesperson for her office.

SB 12 (Bowen) creates an "opt-in" option for consumers, which means that no one can send them e-mail unless they have specifically given permission. Whereas the 1998 law maintains an "opt-out" option for recipients, which means they can request to be removed from the list only after they have been sent unsolicited e-mail.

According to Bowen's office, the new law would put the burden on the advertiser, not the consumer and will take the profit out of spamming.

Sen. Bowen's bill is at the beginning of the legislative process and will be heard on March 10 before the Senate Business & Professions Committee. After that, according to her office, the bill will be passed along to another state committee and eventually taken up for vote.