Agencies crack down on e-mail 'spam'

A group of federal agencies is collaborating to crack down on unsolicited commercial e-mail. The Federal Trade Commission last Friday released the results of part of its "Project Mailbox IV," an effort by the FTC, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Attorneys General to crack down on deceptive mail offers, unsolicited faxes and spam. Although this was the fourth year of the program, it was the first time Internet-related frauds within more than 300 law enforcement actions were tallied. "Con artists must understand that Project Mailbox is here to stay," Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. "We will continue to coordinate our efforts on all fronts and share information with consumers and businesses about deceptive and bogus offers." Some industry groups say the FTC's effort does not go far enough. "It's good to see they're [FTC] taking these fraudulent schemes seriously. ... They've always claimed they've had jurisdiction over fraudulent schemes advertised by spam," said Ray Everitt Church, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (CAUCE). But Church also said his group has been pushing the FTC to not only go after fraudulent e-mail, but also other types of e-mail that cause problems such as crashing a user's hard drive or cluttering one's inbox, where the agency has not acted, Congress might, he said. "I think the chances are looking very good for some anti-spam legislation [in the 107th Congress]," he said. The FTC's actions "just show there are some aspects of spam you can reach with existing laws, but the FTC is the first to admit they need more jurisdiction. Certainly, I think states really see the pressing need for this, but it's clear that what needs to happen is something on the federal law." Rep. Gene Green, R-Texas, introduced a bill, H.R. 95, last week that would ban spam, while Rep. Heather Wilson, R-NM, plans to reintroduce her bill, which sailed through the House last year but stalled in the Senate. "There certainly will be an effort to pass a spam bill," said Ben O'Connell, spokesman for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who co-sponsored the anti-spam bill S. 2542 in the 106th Congress. O'Connell forecasted that such a bill would be passed within the first six months of the session and that it would include enforcement power from agencies like the FTC. "The FTC is obviously going to play a role," he said. "I don't see right now why that would change."