US Senator Charles E. Schumer gave the following speech today to the Federal Trade Commission's first-ever spam forum:

"We are under siege. Armies of online marketers have overrun email in-boxes across the country with advertisements for herbal remedies, get-rich-quick schemes and pornography.

"The spam forum taking place here over the next three days comes not a moment too soon as we decide how to organize our counterattack, and I commend the Federal Trade Commission and Eileen Harrington in particular for bringing us all here today. It is my hope that the impressive roster of panelists and speakers you will listen to and discuss issues with will stimulate ideas on how to stop spammers in their tracks. I have a number of thoughts of my own over the next few weeks and months that I will be pursuing in Congress.

"As you are all aware, spam traffic is growing at a geometric rate, causing the Superhighway to enter a state of virtual gridlock. What was a simple annoyance last year has become a major concern this year and could cripple one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century next year if nothing is done.

"Way back in 1999, the average email user received just 40 pieces of unsolicited commercial email - what we call spam - each year. This year, the number is expected to pass 2,500. I know that I'm lucky if I don't get 40 pieces of spam every couple of days! As a result, a revolution against spam is brewing as the epidemic of junk email exacts an ever increasing toll on families, businesses and the economy.

"Let me illustrate this point with a story. My wife and I have two wonderful children, one of whom is just about to complete her first year at college. The other, a 14 year-old girl, is an absolute whiz on the Internet who loves sending and receiving email. As parents, we do our best to make sure she has good values and that the Internet is a positive experience for her - a device to help her with her schoolwork or learn about events taking place around the world and, maybe even a way to order the latest In Sync CD.

"You can imagine my anger and dismay when I discovered that not only was she a victim of spam like myself, but, like all email users, much of the junk email she was receiving advertised pornographic web sites. I was and remain virtually powerless to prevent such garbage from reaching my daughter's in-box.

"The frustration I feel in the battle against spam is one that I think business owners and Internet Service Providers across that nation can identify with. According to Ferris Research, spam costs businesses in the United States $10 billion each year in lost productivity, consumption of Information Technology resources and help-desk time.

"With surveys showing that over 40% of email traffic qualifies as spam, ISPs spend millions of dollars each year on research, filtering software and new servers to deal with the ever expanding volume of junk email being sent through their pipes.

"This is why I am saying today that enough is enough. It's time to take back the Internet from spammers. So over the next couple of weeks, I will be unveiling a series of bills to clamp down on junk email. The legislation will introduce two new weapons to the battle against spam: a federal no-spam registry modeled on the FTC's recently introduced Do-Not-Call list and tough criminal penalties for violators of new spam regulations.

"Maintained by the FTC, the No-Spam registry will be a gigantic database of people who have "opted out" of receiving spam by submitting their email addresses to the list. The model for this innovation are the Do-Not-Call registries that have been used to ward off telemarketers. The FTC has just inaugurated its national no-call registry and expects telemarketing calls to decrease 80% as a result. New York's Do-Not-Call registry has been wildly popular and already has over 2 million people signed up.

"Critics have already raised doubts about the registry, arguing the it violates free speech, that it doesn't really prevent spammers from sending mass emails, and creates the very thing spammers cherish most - a precious list of millions of email addresses to which they can peddle their wares.

"Let me be clear: under my plan, spam will refer exclusively to unsolicited COMMERCIAL communication, a classification of speech that does not qualify for full First Amendment protection and has been successfully regulated numerous times already. Any spammer that sends email to addresses in the registry will be committing a crime punishable by stiff fines and potential jail time - the same devices we use to prevent more traditional crimes such as destruction of property or burglary.

"The database itself, meanwhile, will be protected by military-caliber encryption so that its valuable contents will not fall into the wrong hands. The list will also contain dummy addresses so that in the very unlikely event that a spammer cracks its protective codes and uses its contents, FTC officials will be able to track down the offender and subject the spammer to criminal prosecution for felony theft of federal property.

"This is merely a sample of the tough penalties spammers will face if they violate the rules of my legislation. Repeat offenders will be subject to two years in prison and fines to be determined by a sentencing judge. The FTC, state attorneys general and ISPs will also gain the right to seek civil penalties against spammers for the amount of damages caused by the spam and fines of up to $5,000 per offense.

"Of equal importance, the FTC will have the funds it needs to carry out this new mission. The No-Spam registry and tough enforcement provisions will not become unfunded mandates.

"And my plan does not stop there. In addition to these two central provisions, it will take aim at the mass collection of email addresses and the rampant fraud which, according to a report released by the FTC yesterday, is present in 66% of junk email.

"My legislation will ban the hated practice of email address harvesting, affording internet surfers, chat room participants and news group users a new level of protection from spam "bots."
Subject headings, headers, domain names and router information of commercial email will have to accurately reflect the content and source of the messages.

"All commercial email will also have the letters "ADV" in the subject line indicating that it contains a message with commercial content. The "ADV" heading is particularly useful because it will allow filters to easily separate the spam from the personal or business-related email users receive each day. And any commercial email without a valid "unsubscribe" address will also be considered illegal.

"The skeptic, of course, will say that all of these innovations are great ideas but hard to implement in practice, especially given that the Internet makes sending spam incredibly inexpensive and easily anonymous. That is why my legislation proposes such stiff penalties for non-compliance and will provide the necessary money for enforcement. We will hunt down spammers one by one, using each one we catch as an example to show what will happen to others.

"As you can tell, I vigorously disagree with critics who say nothing can be done to stop spam.
We already know that 90% of spam is sent by just 150 different spammers. And although I understand that this plan may not eliminate spam outright, the fact that so few junk emailers create so much traffic means that tough criminal penalties and adequate dollars for enforcement can and will work.

"As you can see, this is a comprehensive plan that addresses the technical problems associated with stopping spam in its tracks and also provides effective enforcement mechanisms to end the insidious fraud and harassment perpetrated by peddlers of pornography, financial scams and deceptive advertising. I fully expect it to dramatically turn the tide in our battle against spam.

"I should add that if you are a legitimate company, you have nothing to fear from this legislation. Indeed, I believe you should get on board as one of its chief advocates because right now, people are so frustrated at the junk email bombardment that they delete legitimate commercial email as if it were spam. Implementing these rules means it is more likely your message will be read.

"I hope this plan provides you all with fruitful fodder for discussion over the next couple of days. I am especially interested in your feedback, so our anti-spam counterattack will be based on the best strategy possible.

"I urge you to contact my office if you have any other ideas or suggestions for improvement. I am very excited about the upcoming legislation and, knowing the widespread public distaste for spam, believe that support from other members of Capitol Hill will be forthcoming."

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