Bill Would Ban Spam E-Mail in California
Monty Solomon
Under proposal, people could sue for $500 per violation. Some doubt
law would stem tide.
By Nancy Vogel
LA Times Staff Writer
February 18, 2003
SACRAMENTO -- The unwanted, sometimes lurid advertisements unleashed on
computer users -- e-mail spam -- would be banned under a new bill in
the Legislature.
The bill would make it a crime to send unsolicited commercial e-mails
from California or to an e-mail address in the state. People who
received such spam -- "Miniature Remote Control Car -- Great Gift!" or
"Lose 32 Pounds by Easter" -- could sue for at least $500 per
violation.
"Spam isn't just annoying," said Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey),
the bill's author. "It burns people's time and money by forcing them to
wade through millions of messages that cost spammers virtually nothing
to package and fire off."
But office workers weary of drumming the computer delete button each
morning should not assume that Bowen's bill will halt junk e-mail,
experts say.
That's because so much spam is sent from outside the country and
includes false return addresses. Sometimes, experts say, spammers will
hijack a company's mail-sending capability and use it to route their
spam around the world.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-spam18feb18001440,1,104460.story