If you could pass a law...

Politically I usually favor the government not getting involved in problems like spam.

However, with the problem reaching epidemic proportions, I find myself sympathetic to the notion that spamming constitutes theft of services. Maybe laws should be passed to block junk e-mail. CAN-SPAM didn't actually contain any sanctions against spam - it just put some minor regulations on it.

It should be noted that a lot of spam is illegal. Hacking someone's computer to send junk email, selling pirated software and attempting to steal someone's confidential info to commit credit fraud are all already against the law.

Still, a lot of spam is clearly legal under current law. So, if you could pass any law to prevent spam email you'd like, what would it say?

Part of the problem is that at least some spam is actually "opt-in," and at some point almost everyone opted in for something. Remember that e-card you got last week? Well, your friend probably agreed to get a little spam in exchange for sending that card. They may not have read the fine print - but it's probably in there.

What if the e-card's agreement gave them the right to sell your email address to whoever they like? I can't believe that congress would ever pass a law effectively nullifying user's ability to engage in contracts electronically.

The burden of proof is always on the accuser. Could you prove in a court of law that you never consented to someone else selling your email address to whoever they like?

I'm not sure what to recommend from a legal standpoint. I'm just point out that it's unlikely spam will be effectively banned via legislation. Filtering email is likely to remain the responsibility of end-users and system administrators for sometime into the future.

SpamButcher can be obtained as a free anti-spam download from this website.

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