The Senate, which last week passed a similar bill, is expected to agree to the changes in the House bill this week. President Bush has said he will sign the measure into law.

The bill, called "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act," or CAN-SPAM, will outlaw most junk e-mail and create a "do not spam" registry for opting out of commercial messages. The law, which would overrule state antispam laws, makes violators liable for fines of up to US$250 per e-mail.

But critics call CAN-SPAM a step backward. "The primary motivating factor here was a desire to pre-empt California's opt-in spam law," said Chris Hoofnagle, Electronic Privacy Information Center deputy counsel. "Consumers would have been served if no [federal] law would have passed."

"Essentially what Congress has done is watered down protections in 30 states," he told NewsFactor.

Legal Until Unsubscribed

The California antispam law, like many such state laws, allows spammers to send e-mail only to users who have specifically opted in to receive messages. The California law is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2004.

Under CAN-SPAM's provisions, spammers do not need opt-in permission. The bill makes it illegal to send unsolicited e-mail to users who have opted out.

Certain types of junk e-mail are legalized under CAN-SPAM. Spammers are allowed to send an unlimited amount of commercial e-mail, as long as the e-mails are clearly labeled and include a valid postal address and an unsubscribe link.

Individuals would not be able to sue spammers under CAN-SPAM. Only ISPs, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general could.

"Many states have a spam laws with private right of action, meaning an individual has a right to go to court," Hoofnagle said. "Where we've had success in dealing with cases of unwanted marketing has been in cases where individuals can go to court."

Corporate Spam Push

The motivation for lesser spam control at the federal level, Hoofnagle said, is that "there are companies who want to move into the spam space."

In the current bulk e-mail business, the majority of spam is deceptive or unfair. The bill is an effort to change that, Hoofnagle said. "The bill is not going to get rid of spam -- it's going to go after the fraudsters, in an attempt to make it a legitimate medium for other companies. (continued...)

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