"Lower your mortgage!" "Interest-free debt consolidation!" "Increase your bust size in 30 days!"

Everyone with an e-mail address has received e-mails like these, has deals with them.

Now the federal government is trying to deal with unsolicited e-mail, or "spam," but no clear solution is in view.

Fifteen spam bills have either been or are now being considered in Congress, but so far no federal action has been taken to regulate spam, according to the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE).

The Utah Legislature has also been trying to deal with the problem.

State law requires all e-mail marketing messages to contain "adv:" in the subject and requires all marketing e-mails to contain identification of the sender, as well as a valid opt-out method.

Utah lawmakers passed anti-spam legislation in 2002 and passed a resolution this year that urges the federal government to implement laws that regulate Internet commerce.

However, nothing has worked yet to rein in e-mail marketers, said Brent Barker, senior software engineer for Novell.

Barker said for those frustrated with spam in their e-mail box, there are no good solutions.

"Try changing your e-mail address every month," he said.

Barker believes the main problem is the amount of damages that can be collected for illegal spamming. The current fine is $10.

"For $10, are you going to fight back?" he asked. "It costs $70 just to file the suit, then you have to find the guy, who's probably out of state, pay lawyer fees and hire a collection agency."

Barker, frustrated with last year's anti-spam legislation, tried and failed in working with state legislators to introduce even tougher laws against spamming.

Utah law might be effective in curbing e-mail marketing if it were enforced and damages were worth more, he said.

The problem, Barker said, is the low fine for breaking the law.

"Even if 500 people sue, that's only $5,000 in damages," he said. "To these guys, that's just a cost of business."

Larry Bunkall, lobbyist for the E-mail Marketing Association, testified before a House committee that Utah's anti-e-mail marketing laws actually go to far and need to be amended.

"Last year's act resulted in over 1,200 lawsuits," he said.

Bunkall said the rights of legitimate e-mail marketers to advertise need to be protected.

Barker disagrees.

"There are no legitimate e-mail marketers," he said. "You can buy 10 million names from an affiliate list. That's not legal."

CAUCE, which has 210 members in Utah, reports on its Web site that the ease and low expense with which spam can be sent makes it a lucrative option for advertisers.

According to the Web site, hundreds of thousands of e-mails can be sent every hour with a 28.8 dial-up connection and a personal computer.

There are ways to cut down on the amount of spam sent to your computer, according to CAUCE.

The CAUCE Web site suggests the following:

1 - Never respond to spam, even to check out the product. One response justifies sending thousands of e-mails. Instead, go to the Web site directly.

2 - Never respond with "remove me." This lets spammers know that the e-mail address belongs to a human and makes it that much more valuable.

3 - Never "fight back" by mail-bombing sites or addresses. This increases useless Internet traffic, may cause sympathy for spammers and may be a decoy site belonging to an innocent third party.

4 - Write to government officials and request laws to regulate unsolicited e-mail.



Copyright Brigham Young University 10 Mar 2003