RE: [Declude.JunkMail] 'Do Not Spam' List Will Not Work - FTC

[Tom]

Title: Message

News Listed Below:   Regards, Tom Image`fx   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Do Not Spam' List Will Not Work - FTC

2:23 p.m. 06/15/2004 Provided by

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government-run "Do Not Spam" registry would only generate more unwanted e-mail because unscrupulous marketers would simply treat it as a source of leads, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday.

The FTC declined to endorse a no-spam registry patterned after its tremendously popular Do Not Call list that allows consumers to prevent most telemarketing calls.

While telemarketers have largely complied with the new list, e-mail marketers that are already breaking a number of laws would simply ignore it, or use it to send more spam, FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said.

"A national registry was a great solution to unwanted telemarketing calls. At this time it's not the solution to unwanted e-mail," Muris said.

Muris said proposed authentication standards that promise to make it harder for spammers to cover their tracks showed promise as a way to cut down spam.

FTC officials said on several occasions last year that they did not think a no-spam list would work, but Congress directed the consumer-protection agency to look into it when it passed a national anti-spam law last December.

Unsolicited bulk messages now account for roughly 83 percent of all e-mail traffic, according to filtering company Postini Inc.

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