I'm not going to dispute that the law is dumb (because it certainly is),
but Prof. Goldman misses the mark on the spam filtering issue, I think. If
he mentioned new Tex. Bus. & Comm. Code Sec. 321.054(1) ("the provider is
authorized to block the transmission under Section 321.114 or other
applicable state or federal law") in his blog post then I missed it over
about 3 readings of the blog post and specific word searches of the post
for "authorized" and "federal."
It doesn't say "required to block" but "authorized to block."
Again, the law is really dumb, but I'm not sure that it requires the
Chicken Little treatment.
On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 9:51 PM John Levine via mailop <[email protected]>
wrote:
> A bizarre new Texas law makes most spam filtering illegal, effective Dec 2:
>
> “An electronic mail service provider may not intentionally impede the
> transmission of another person’s electronic mail message based on the
> content of the message” unless:
>
> * it “provides a process for the prompt, good faith resolution of a
> dispute related to the blocking with the sender of the commercial
> electronic mail message” or
>
> * “the provider has a good faith, reasonable belief that the message
> contains malicious computer code, obscene material, material depicting
> sexual conduct, or material that violates other law”
>
> Senders who are blocked can sue for $10/msg up to $25K/day. If I had any
> users in Texas, I would turn off all the spam filtering.
> Why take the risk?
>
> If you think this is mind-bogglingly stupid and nobody in their right mind
> would pass such a law, you are correct, but, you know, Texas.
>
> More info here:
>
>
> https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2021/09/texas-enacts-social-media-censorship-law-to-benefit-anti-vaxxers-spammers.htm
>
> R's,
> John
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