SAN FRANCISCO (CNN/Money) -
Politics makes strange bedfellows. The National Rifle Association and the Writers Guild of America teamed up to fight the FCC's June decision to do away with media ownership caps. Last month Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., enlisted the Christian Coalition to help support his Stop Pornography and Abusive Marketing (SPAM) Act.
This week Schumer's SPAM Act will likely get a boost from another powerful coalition -- the American public. An overwhelming majority of respondents in an ePrivacy Group survey support Schumer's call for a national do-not-spam registry, a concept similar to the FCC's popular do-not-call registry established earlier this summer to enforce responsible telemarketing.
The group polled 1,090 people, with 75 percent indicating that they support a national do-not-spam registry. What's more, 81 percent said they want the option to sue spammers directly for infringement, and Schumer's bill would give them that choice -- to the tune of $1,000 per e-mail.
While the do-not-spam registry sounds great and is probably a smart post for Schumer to hitch his SPAM Act to (since he might benefit from the do-not-call list's popularity), the bill is unlikely to pass.
Large Internet service providers such as AOL (AOL: Research, Estimates) (parent company of CNN/Money), EarthLink (ELNK: Research, Estimates), and Microsoft's (MSFT: Research, Estimates) MSN are hesitant to endorse the various antispam bills currently wending their way through Congress, and none has formulated a position yet on the Schumer bill.
Many ISPs fear that adopting any of the bills, as currently proposed, will work against their own antispam efforts. First, ISPs could incur additional costs if they must manage and update do-not-spam lists. What's more, some ISPs chafe at the prospect of the federal government establishing statutory damage limits in spam-related lawsuits.
With spam listed as the No. 1 concern for Internet users (40 percent of ePrivacy's respondents said they spend half an hour or more per day dealing with spam), addressing the issue correctly is of paramount concern for ISPs. For these companies' investors, the spam problem is one of the most important issues to watch, as it affects everything from customer retention and revenue to operational costs.
"Mr. Schumer's bill is well-intended," says Scott Corley, manager of government relations with the Information Technology Industry Council, a lobby representing companies such as AOL and Microsoft as well as e-mail marketing firms. "The idea of a do-not-spam list, in concept, is wonderful. But, in practice, it will be difficult [to implement]."
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David Baker, vice president for law and policy at EarthLink, is more direct. "I think the chances of the bad spammers complying with the do-not-spam list are pretty slim."
He raises a good point -- and one that service providers are quick to mention. A do-not-spam list would only stop e-mail from legitimate businesses interested in respecting consumers' wishes. Overseas and fraudulent spammers, which ePrivacy Group estimates are responsible for 60 percent of all spam, would likely continue undeterred.
What's more, distributing a do-not-spam list containing millions of e-mail addresses and names is tantamount to handing over fresh prospects to scores of shady e-mail marketing operations, many of which could simply start e-mailing those contacts immediately.
Apparently, Schumer's silver-bullet spam solution has about as much chance of solving the problem as do the get-rich-quick, grow-hair-fast, get-girls-now come-ons that clutter the nation's inboxes.
"No one bill will cure the problem of spam," says EarthLink's Baker. "It will take a combined effort of legislation, litigation, enforcement, customer education, and technology solutions."
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