On 15 Oct 95 at 15:24, George Herbert wrote:
Just as a warning, some of us on the recieving end of more than our fair share of net abuse (the collected Usenet moderators) are starting to get more than a little short fuzed about this.
I would like to propose that we seek legislative relief from this ever-increasing problem. I have spoken with counsel and now understand what is required to support the enactment of federal legislation to prohibit the misuse of electronic mail and Usenet news by unprincipled "spammers." There is already law which prohibits marketing via facsimile and cellular telephone. My position is that e-mail and Usenet news are similar vehicles in the sense that there is a measurable cost on the receiver's end. I believe that this has the potential of being a high-visibility legal issue, and one that would be a "vote getter" as it speaks directly to an educated, active voting constituency. I plan on pursuing this with Sen. Edward Markey's office, as he is my local legislative representative and chairs the House Telecommunications Committee which is responsible for the facsimile law, as I understand it. To do this effectively, such an effort would require certain financial resources to support things like a state by state search for existing legislative and the creation of new draft legislation. I'll be providing information about this at our booth at Internet World at the end of the month and would like to see if there is enough support for this project to sponsor it at the grassroots. Please respond to me directly with your thoughts. </rr> Robert Raisch, Chief Scientist The Internet Company 96 Sherman Street Cambridge, MA 021040 617-547-3600 617-547-3300 FAX -- The Internet Company - info@internet.com We Bring Only Value to the Global Internet