I’ve frequently said that the solution to spam should be legislative and not technical. I don’t want to engage in a never-ending battle of technology with spammers, constantly upgrading my filter technology to combat their latest tricks. I just want the government to make them leave me alone. I know some people disagree with that approach, but apparently 97 members of the US Senate agreed when they approved the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act.
There are various problems with the concept of anti-spam legislation, but I still think it’s the way to go. The biggest negative, in my opinion, is the fear of increasing government control of the internet. From the descriptions of the CAN-SPAM act that I’ve read, I think I like it. It includes a “do-not-spam” list, which I’ve always said was the answer to spam. I’m certainly leery about restrictions on transfer of information between willing parties. But I have no problem with the government standing behind me when I tell somebody to leave me alone.
The act also includes penalties for some favorite spammer techniques, such as relay hijacking, false or missing return addresses, etc. I don’t think the spammers can complain that these penalties are a restriction on their rights to “free speech”.
One of the biggest arguments against anti-spam legislation is that it can’t be enforced, because spammers cover their tracks, and send spam from other countries not subject to US legislation. The solution to this is to follow the money. Regardless of where spam originates, the purpose of it is almost always to persuade me to send money to somebody, usually in the United States. I haven’t read the CAN-SPAM act in detail, but if it includes a provision for going after the sellers of products advertised in spam, then it should be effective against most spam currently being sent.
If CAN-SPAM passes the House and is signed into law, I think we’ll see a reduction in spam, at least for a little while. The spammers may eventually find a way to move enough of their operations offshore to make themselves untouchable, but by then, other countries may be more coöperative. The ones that don’t might find themselves slowly ostracized as ISPs start to block mail from regions known to be spam havens. I think we may be well on the road towards canning spam.