FTC Charges Porn Spammers Violating CAN-SPAM

The FTC has charged six different pornography producers and marketers with violating the CAN-SPAM spam email legislation.

The companies are responsible for up to 20 different adult internet sites. They are specifically accused of not including the required "SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT" warning label in the subject line of their spam emails.

The charges could potentially carry up to 5 years in prison and up to $6 million in fines.

The CAN-SPAM act was put into law last year in an effort to reduce junk e-mail. Critics have panned it as ineffective at stemming the flow of unwanted email. According the charges - the accused spammers made no effort to comply with any of the provisions of the law. An informal examination of intercepted spam indicates this is the case with most spammers.

The most practical spam blocking continues to be installing client-side software such as SpamButcher.

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