Bill seeks to restrict unsolicited e-mail Legislator says requiring return address, toll-free numbers would inhibit senders

BANGOR – Tired of those unsolicited e-mails filling your box?

A bill to be heard by the Utilities and Energy Committee this afternoon is aimed at restricting unsolicited commercial e-mail, whether it advertises products or broadcasts a social or political message.

Most people with an e-mail address have become familiar with the term “spam,” the word used to define unsolicited commercial e-mail.

Such e-mails often involve chain letters, pyramid schemes, get-rich- quick schemes and stock offerings for unknown start-up corporations, according to the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email. Those solicitations are usually sent out in bulk, targeting tens of thousands of e-mail customers at a time.

Rep. Albion D. Goodwin, D-Pembroke, is sponsoring proposed legislation that would restrict such e-mails by requiring that all e-mails contain a valid toll-free telephone number, return e-mail address and return postal address maintained by the sender.

“Everybody’s going to love this,” the representative said from Augusta on Monday. “I think the only ones who would oppose it are the spammers themselves and I’d like to meet ’em. Wouldn’t you?”

Ray Everett-Church, co-founder and lead counsel for the coalition, said polls indicate that 30 percent of e-mail processed through Internet service provider America Online is unsolicited.

Such mail slows down the system and the costs that the ISPs incur in dealing with such e-mails is passed on to the consumer, Everett-Church said.

“When you talk to some of the small providers around the country they estimate that $1 to $2 a month of your bill goes directly to equipment and administrative costs incurred in dealing with spam,” he said.

Goodwin’s bill will affect those who send e-mails to large numbers of groups or individual users with whom the sender does not have an existing business relationship for the purpose of offering property or goods for sale or rent, conveying information on the extension of credit, promoting or soliciting charitable contributions or broadcasting political or social commentary.

Any organization sending unsolicited e-mail must have a valid way for the recipient to contact them in order to be taken off the mailing list, according to the bill.

While Goodwin is not expecting opposition to his bill, the United States Congress has. Despite several attempts, Congress has yet to take action to restrict the practice of spamming.

Everett-Church said the Direct Marketing Association, as well as banks and insurance companies, have successfully convinced members of Congress not to address the spam situation.

“You know all those credit card offerings you receive in the [U.S.] mail,” Everett-Church said. “Well, those companies and banks would like to leave the door open to someday offer you those on-line because it would be a great savings to them.”

While Everett-Church appreciates state efforts to legislate spamming, he said the only way to legitimately make a difference was to pass federal legislation.

Realistically, he said, it is unlikely that Maine would be able to effectively prosecute a company from, say, California, who violates a state statute.

“Individual state legislation also can make it difficult on legitimate companies or nonprofits who must check into each state’s statutes to determine that the e-mail they are sending meets each state’s individual laws,” he said.

While Goodwin supports federal legislation, he said Maine has got to join the many other states that have restricted spamming until the federal government takes action.

“If you have a computer, you know all the stuff that comes at you,” he said. “It’s unwanted and some of it’s nasty and it’s very, very expensive. It backlogs the system and that costs you and me money.”

The legislator said it should not affect a nonprofit or political group from sending e-mails, but would require that they have a telephone number, postal address and e-mail address included.

“I know everyone has the right to use the Internet, but I’m attaching to that constitutional right the right for me to be notified of who is sending it,” he said.

If the bill passes, a violator would be subject to fines under the unfair trade practices law, Goodwin said.

“If they get fined $1,000 for each violation and they sent 10,000 e-mails into the state, well that’s quite a hit,” he said, adding that attorneys general from across the country would work together with Maine’s attorney general to ensure prosecution.

“We can find ’em and we will,” he said. “And we can get rid of it.”

The bill will be heard at 1 p.m. today by the Utilities Committee in room 209 at the Cross State Office building.