Taking a Second Shot at Spammers
Spammers who get caught flooding American inboxes with junk mail could find themselves facing prosecution twice -- once at the federal level and once at the state level -- thanks to a largely overlooked clause in the U.S. Can-Spam Act.
The clause, noted in 28 words near the bottom of the nation's first federal law against spam, prevents the Can-Spam Act from pre-empting state laws that prohibit "falsity and deception" in commercial e-mails. In other words, states are free to keep certain portions of their existing antispam laws, or even form new ones -- contrary to statements made by critics of the Can-Spam Act. "This is a very important clause," said America Online spokesman Nicholas Graham. "It hasn't been noticed very much because there is a misperception that the federal Can-Spam bill that went into effect in January pre-empted all state spam laws. But that is not correct."
As the nation's largest Internet service provider -- and the one with the most to lose if spammers prevail -- AOL has worked closely with lawmakers in several states over the past few months to produce antispam bills that fit under the Can-Spam clause. If passed, the bills would allow the states to hand down their own punishments to spammers who falsify e-mail addresses and headers. The most recent of those bills was approved by the Maryland House and Senate last Monday, and is now awaiting the signature of the state's governor.
