Do Not Spam Me!

In the latest maneuver to fend off unwanted advertising, New York state passed an amendment to its do-not-call law that includes e-mail. Although 13 states have passed do-not-call laws, New York is the first to add e-mail.

Because e-mail now is sent via wireless and wireline networks, the law applies to “wireless spam” as well, observers said, but like the law it amends, the new legislation contains exemptions for politicians, as well as phone, insurance and real estate companies. Another problem will be the cost of maintaining a database of names, phone numbers and now e-mail addresses.

The addition of e-mail to do-not-call laws could be the beginning of a hot trend, said John Patrick Grant of StateScape (www.statescape.com), a state legislative research group. Companies that break the new law face fines of up to $2,000 for each violation. With most e-mail marketing campaigns targeting thousands of potential customers, a slip-up could be costly.

As anti-spam legislation makes its way through state legislatures, activity also continues in Washington. The Wireless Telephone Spam Protection Act, from Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), has been referred to a subcommittee. It would prohibit the use of wireless text, graphic or image messaging to transmit unsolicited commercial messages. Peter Yeager, Holt's press secretary, said they are gathering co-sponsors in an effort to move the bill through the committee.

On May 10, another bill proposing the regulation of e-mail marketing ran into trouble in committee. The anti-spam bill was sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and includes a $500 penalty for each violation. Most legislators expressed reservations about the bill, which now is being reworded.

Also in May, the Spam Act, co-sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Conrad Burns (R-MT), became the subject of debate between privacy advocates and business interests. The bill would require bulk e-mailers to identify themselves, provide valid return e-mail addresses, be honest about e-mail content and give recipients an easy way to prevent further contact. Fines would be $10 per in-box reached, to a maximum of $500,000.

If wireless associations have anything to say about spam, self-regulation will trump legislation. Last year the Wireless Advertising Association (www.waaglobal.org) adopted rules for members that prohibit spam. Users must confirm that they want to receive marketing messages through “opt-in” policies, said Don Albert, the association's co-vice chairman.

“Our members realize that any one of us could ruin it for the rest of us by abusing the trust of consumers,” Albert said.

Rob Hoggarth, PCIA senior vice president of government relations (www.pcia.com), favors market forces over legislation.

“We are more comfortable letting the customers tell us what they want and don't want and responding with their dollars, as opposed to having legislators … make those decisions for consumers,” he said.

At a gathering of wireless data executives in San Francisco, wireless advertising was on the agenda.

“The key to wireless advertising is finding innovative forms that are unobtrusive to the consumer and closely related to the information being accessed on the hand-held device,” said Dirk Herbert, OmniSky director of strategic planning and research (www.omnisky.com).