SPAM Laws of 2001

Written by A.T.Rendon


For a law to take effect onrepparttar U.S. federal level, bothrepparttar 132807 House andrepparttar 132808 Senate must passrepparttar 132809 bill and thenrepparttar 132810 President ofrepparttar 132811 United States must signrepparttar 132812 bill into law.

Last year we almost got a SPAM law onrepparttar 132813 books when House legislators approved their version ofrepparttar 132814 SPAM bill, H. R. 3113,repparttar 132815 "The Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2000", with a vote of 427-1.

However, it never came close to becoming law becauserepparttar 132816 Senate never even voted on it.

This year, there are already several attempts being made to place SPAM underrepparttar 132817 law.

The most recognized is known as bill HR 95, which is a re-introduction of H. R. 3113 from last year and is named: "To protect individuals, families, and Internet service providers from unsolicited and unwanted electronic mail." http:/ homas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.00095:

A SUMMARY AS OF: 1/3/2001--Introduced.

"Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2001 - Amendsrepparttar 132818 Federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for intentionally initiatingrepparttar 132819 transmission of any unsolicited commercial electronic mail message (message) to a protected computer inrepparttar 132820 United States withrepparttar 132821 knowledge that any domain name or other initiator identifying information contained in or accompanying such message is false or inaccurate.

Prohibits any person from sending such a message unlessrepparttar 132822 message contains a valid e-mail address, conspicuously displayed, to which a recipient may send notice of a desire not to receive further messages.

Makes it unlawful for a person to initiaterepparttar 132823 transmission of such a message in violation of a policy regarding unsolicited commercial e-mail messages that complies with specified requirements, including requirements for notice and public availability of such policy and for an opportunity for subscribers to opt not receive such messages.

Directsrepparttar 132824 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to notify violators under this Act, to prohibit further initiation of such messages, and to requirerepparttar 132825 initiator to deleterepparttar 132826 names and e-mail addresses ofrepparttar 132827 recipients and providers from all mailing lists.

Provides a right of action by a recipient or provider against e-mail initiators who violaterepparttar 132828 above requirements. "

As bill HR 95 stands right now, it is not expected to pass vote inrepparttar 132829 House for two reasons, even thoughrepparttar 132830 language ofrepparttar 132831 bill is exactlyrepparttar 132832 same as that passed last year in a vote of 427-1:

WHO COOKED THIS!? HOW DID IT ALL START?

Written by Beka Ruse


The modern meaning ofrepparttar word "spam" has nothing to do with spiced ham. Inrepparttar 132806 early 1990's, a skit by British comedy group Monty Python led torepparttar 132807 word's common usage. "The SPAM Skit" follows a couple struggling to order dinner from a menu consisting entirely of Hormel's canned ham.

Repetition is key torepparttar 132808 skit's hilarity. The actors cram repparttar 132809 word "SPAM" intorepparttar 132810 2.5 minute skit more than 104 times! This flood prompted Usenet readers to call unwanted newsgroup postings "spam." The name stuck.

Spammers soon focused on e-mail, andrepparttar 132811 terminology moved with them. Today,repparttar 132812 word has come out of technical obscurity. Now, "spam" isrepparttar 132813 common term for "Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail", or "UCE."

---------------------------------- WHY DOES BAD SPAM HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE? ----------------------------------

Chances are, you've been spammed before. Somehow, your e-mail address has found it's way intorepparttar 132814 hands of a spammer, and your inbox is sufferingrepparttar 132815 consequences. How does this happen? There are several possibilities.

BACKSTABBING BUSINESSES - Businesses often keep lists of their customers' e-mail addresses. This is a completely legitimate practice and, usually, nothing bad comes of it. Sometimes though,repparttar 132816 temptation to make a quick buck is too great, and these lists are sold or rented to outside advertisers. The result? A lot of unsolicited e-mail, and a serious breach of trust.

RANDOM ADDRESS GENERATION - Computer programs called random address generators simply "guess" e-mail addresses. Over 100 million hotmail addresses exist – how hard could it be to guess some of them? Unfortunately for many unsuspecting netizens – not too hard. Many spammers also guess at "standard" addresses, like "support@yourdomain.com", "info@yourdomain.com", and "billing@yourdomain.com."

WEB SPIDERS - Today's most insidious list-gathering tools are web spiders. All ofrepparttar 132817 major search engines spiderrepparttar 132818 web, saving information about each page. Spammers use tools that also spiderrepparttar 132819 web, but save any *e-mail address* they come across. Your personal web page lists your e-mail address? Prepare for an onslaught!

CHAT ROOM HARVESTING - ISP's offer vastly popular chat rooms where users are known only by their screen names. Of course, spammers know that your screen name isrepparttar 132820 first part of your e-mail address. Why waste time guessing e-mail addresses when a few hours of lurking in a chat room can net a list of actively-used addresses?

THE POOR MAN'S BAD MARKETING IDEA - It didn't work forrepparttar 132821 phone companies, and it won't work for e-mail marketers. But, some spammers still keep their own friends-and-family- style e-mail lists. Compiled from repparttar 132822 addresses of other known spammers, and people or buisnesses thatrepparttar 132823 owner has come across inrepparttar 132824 past, these lists are still illegitimate. Why? Only you can give someone permission to send you e-mail. A friend-of-a-friend's permission won't cut it.

---------------------------------- STOP THE FLOOD TO YOUR INBOX ----------------------------------

Already drowning in spam? Try using your e-mail client's filters - many provide a way to block specific e-mail addresses. Each time you're spammed, blockrepparttar 132825 sender's address. Spammers skip from address to address, and you may be on many lists, but this method will at least slowrepparttar 132826 flow.

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