On 29 Jul 2022, at 14:32, Anne Mitchell via mailop wrote:
I want to be sure that everyone here is aware of a piece of pending
legislation in the U.S. that is in committee in both the House and the
Senate right now. It's called the Political BIAS Emails Act of 2022
(BIAS is short for “Bias In Algorithm Sorting”), and it requires
that, and I quote:
Just in case others are inclined to try and convince their
representatives, I drafted and sent the below, use as desired.
```
I am sending this communication to request your support by opposing H.
R. 8160 ("Political Bias In Algorithm Sorting Emails Act of 2022"). I
have been a registered voter for [years] and intend to continue actively
participating in all upcoming elections.
Unsolicited electronic communications—spam—constitute a very serious
problem to all users of communication services regardless of social or
economic distinction. The industry has responded by creating a plethora
of mechanisms that help mitigate this issue, returning some semblance of
normality to our electronic mailboxes and phones.
An unfortunate reality is that in their efforts to reach as wide an
audience as possible, the political campaigns—or its
collaborators—very often step over industry best practices and end up
sending vast amounts of unsolicited communications. The special
treatment that political actors receive from CAN-SPAM further reduces
the remedies available for operators, tasked with handling the barrage
of unsolicited messages as well as the complaints of the disgruntled
public that gets targeted during the electoral season.
H. R. 8160 introduces the notion that users must directly apply a
"label" to an email prior to the operator being able to act accordingly.
This proposed arrangement would be detrimental to the user because it
requires an action to respond to what is in essence an unsolicited
message. Of note, said user has likely chosen the operator that provides
its email services consciously, considering factors that often include
the ability to block spam. By forcing users to receive these unsolicited
messages prior to any labeling, H. R. 8160 attacks individual choice.
Furthermore, well-funded political campaigns can produce an endless
stream of ephemeral "collaborators"—e.g.: connected organization or
joint fundraising committees—that could relentlessly send email
communications to users that have not solicited them. Even diligent
users promptly labeling those messages as spam, would continue to
receive them, without even the ability to have the operator assist with
its automated filters. This type of behavior has been considered abusive
for a long time in the email industry.
H. R. 8160 also introduces a loophole that could be exploited by
malicious third parties, which acting as political campaigns, could use
the special status granted by this legislation as a way to send spam and
phishing email—email designed to trick the recipient into some
nefarious activity—in vast quantities. Combined with the massive data
breaches that have been reported in the last few years alone, the
consequences of such exceptions as described in H. R. 8160 are
terrifying.
As currently written, H. R. 8160 will only serve to worsen the status
quo, by forcing operators to process and deliver the high volume of
unsolicited communications. Passing this unfortunate piece of
legislation is akin to providing a license to spam to all political
campaigns—and impostors—which will result in more user complaints
and additional costs for US-based operators.
Furthermore, by preempting US-based operators to take action against
unsolicited political communications, H. R. 8160 will cause users to
migrate to service providers outside the US, with the potential to
impact jobs, competitiveness and value generation within our own
economy.
In closing, please consider blocking H. R. 8160 and contrary to this
legislation, pushing for regulations that restore the ability of email
users to use their mailboxes.
Sincerely,
```
-lem
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