FTC says anti-spam law works

• It provides for a national Do-Not-Spam list; requires that spam sent to consumers includes a means of opting-out of the mailing list used by the sender; bans the sending of fraudulent emails or unmarked sexually oriented emails, and provides for civil and criminal sanctions for those spammers who breach the rules.
• The penalties may amount to fines of $6 million and five years in prison in the most severe cases.
• But the Act has been severely criticised over the fact that it fails to actually "can" spam.
• There is no ban on sending unsolicited commercial e-mail or text messages.
• Despite this, the FTC yesterday published a report to Congress, concluding that consumers are receiving less spam now than they were receiving in 2003.
• The report, "Effectiveness and Enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act," looks at research provided by email filtering firm MX Logic.
• "The volume of spam sent over the internet has begun to level off, and, even more significantly, the amount reaching consumers' inboxes has decreased, due to enhanced anti-spam technologies," reads the report.
• According to Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, "We're using technology and teamwork in the battle against illegal spam".
• "Taken together, they are helping us combat the outlaw spammers who disregard laws designed to prevent fraud and protect consumers' rights," she added.
• The report states that the Act is effective in providing protection for consumers, and that state and federal law enforcers and the private sector are enforcing the Act aggressively.
• The report observes that the Act codifies "best practices" that legitimate marketers are following and notes that technology advancements may be the most useful tool in combating outlaw spammers.
• "There has been a shift toward the inclusion in spam messages of content that is increasingly malicious," says the report.