Wednesday March 28 4:04 PM ET
House Commerce Committee Approves Anti-Spam Bill

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee unanimously approved a bill on Wednesday that would place limits on Internet junk mail, despite the reservations of some committee members.

The bill would enable Internet users and access providers to block ``spam,'' or unsolicited commercial e-mail messages that are often sent out by the millions.

Internet users complain that spam clogs networks and inboxes with unwanted offers for everything from credit cards to pornography to pyramid schemes.

The House of Representatives approved a similar bill last year by a vote of 427 to 1, but it died in the Senate.

Boosters such as Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Billy Tauzin see a greater chance of passage this year because the Senate calendar is not as crowded.

``I think it will become law this year,'' said the Louisiana Republican, whose committee approved the bill by voice vote.

The bill would give Internet users the right to remove their names from spammers' e-mail lists. Spammers would be required to notify all recipients of this right and include a valid return e-mail address in their messages.

Companies that fail to comply would face civil and criminal penalties of $500 for each violation, up to $50,000.

Bill's Changes Criticized

Co-sponsors Heather Wilson of New Mexico and Gene Green of Texas presented an amended version of the bill that cleared the telecommunications subcommittee last week.

The new version prevents state attorneys general from recouping legal fees incurred when suing spammers.

Several committee members said the changes undermined the bill's effectiveness by weakening enforcement provisions.

``It is simply unfair to require the taxpaying public to foot the legal bill for the damage caused by spammers,'' said Michigan Rep. John Dingell, the committee's top Democrat.

Other Democrats, including Green, said they would have preferred to allow state attorneys general to bring class-action suits against spammers as well.

Wilson, a Republican, said the bill was not designed to encourage mass lawsuits or ``fund the attorney general's office.''

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ed Markey objected to another provision, which allows Internet access providers to set their own anti-spam policies. Markey said the provision could block legitimate commercial e-mail, a concern echoed by several financial-services industry groups.

Other committee members raised a different issue: the possible spread of spam to cell phones and other mobile devices.

Wilson and Green said cell phones were governed by an entirely set of laws outside the scope of their bill.

``If it had been fairly simple to do, we would have done it,'' Wilson said.

Despite these criticisms, no ``nays'' were heard when the voice vote was taken.

The bill will be taken up by the Judiciary Committee and then moved to the full House for debate.

A similar bill was introduced in the Senate Tuesday by Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican, and Democrats Ron Wyden from Oregon and Joseph Lieberman from Connecticut.

-----