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| 5/24 |
| 2003/12/16-17 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:11481 Activity:very high 53%like:11187 |
12/16 Bush signs anti-spam bill:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/16/bush.bills.ap/index.html
\_ This is not an anti-spam bill, though it is being marketed that
way. It is more of a pro-spam bill.
\_ Makes perfect sense in BushSpeak, where a bill to enable
more clearcutting is called the "Healthy Forests Initiative"
and a bill to remove civil rights is called the "Patriot Act."
\_ Hey, it was all that dead wood from beetle infestation
that fueled the SoCal fires.
\_ The logging industry doesn't cut dead trees.
\_ Slightly off topic, but on a recent trip up Highway 1
I noticed whole swaths of oak trees that seem to be
dead. From what I've read, this is not directly due to
a beatle infestation but a virus which weakens the tree
and then makes them more susceptible to the beatles.
Its very eerie to see a whole bunch of trees hit this way.
Very post-apocalyptic.
\_ the massive tree death on the Kenai peninsula is
caused by beetles. Not that this has anything to
do with Bush's timber industry giveaways, just
pointing this out while we're on the beetle
tree death topic. it got a lot of press recently
because the infestation was brought on by rising
temperatures in Alaska--which will continue to rise
thanks to Bush's giveaways to the oil industries.
\_ Care to explain the Alaska/CA Beetle thing?
\_ True, but the Healthy Forest Initiative was about increasing
the logging of healthy trees.
\_ what's your justification for this (calling it pro-spam)?
http://csua.org/u/5ah
\_ Spam law analysis: http://csua.org/u/5ai
And use an URL shortener! |
| 5/24 |
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| www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/16/bush.bills.ap/index.html WASHINGTON AP - President Bush signed legislation Tuesday meant to stem the flood of unwanted e-mail pitches that irritate Internet users and drain the economy. Spam, or unsolicited e-mails, are annoying to consumers and costly to our economy, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said after Bush signed the bill. This will help address the problems associated with the rapid growth and abuse of spam by establishing a framework of technological, administrative civil and criminal tools, and by providing consumers with options to reduce the volume of unwanted e-mail. He signed several others previously but was posing at official signing ceremonies for them throughout the day. In the Oval Office on Tuesday morning, Bush signed the so-called can spam legislation. Passed by Congress earlier this month, the measure outlaws the persistent techniques used by e-mailers who send tens of millions of messages each day to peddle their products and services. The bill supplants anti-spam laws already passed in some states, including California. It also encourages the Federal Trade Commission to create a do-not-spam list of e-mail addresses and includes penalties for spammers of up to five years in prison in rare circumstances. In the afternoon, the president went to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to sign the American Dream Downpayment Act. It is aimed at helping families that can afford monthly mortgage payments but not the initial costs associated with buying a house. Three-fourths of non-minority Americans own their own homes, but less than half of blacks, Hispanics and other minorities do. Through grants to state and local governments, low-income families would receive an average of about $5,000 to be help cover downpayment and closing costs on a first home. Thats not right, and this country needs to do something about it, Bush said, citing of a minority homeownership rate of under 50 percent. The other bills Bush was signing or holding photo sessions on: PEDIATRIC EQUITY RESEARCH ACT : The legislation signed previously by Bush gives the Food and Drug Administration additional authority to require pediatric studies to ensure safe use of medicines in children. It allows the FDA to require testing of drugs for use in children when drug firms do not test them voluntarily. AVIATION SPENDING : The Bush administration agreed to shield all air traffic control jobs from privatization for a year to get Congress to approve a $60 billion aviation spending bill. It calls for self-defense training for flight attendants and giving cargo pilots permission to carry guns. The legislation, signed previously by Bush, provides $14 billion for airport construction projects, including $140 million to help small communities attract and retain air service, and $308 million to ensure air service to isolated communities. It also sets aside $2 billion for airports to install bomb-screening machines as part of automated bag-handling systems to speed luggage checks. BLACK HISTORY MUSEUM : The measure establishes a national museum of black history and culture as part of the Smithsonian Institution. John Lewis, D-Georgia, and a former civil rights leader, had introduced legislation in each Congress since 1988 to create the museum. The estimated $400 million initial price tag would be split evenly between federal government and private sources. The bill authorizes $17 million in the first year to start the project. Bushs signature clears the way for fund raising and for the Smithsonian Board of Regents to choose a site. VETERANS BENEFITS : The bill Bush was signing Tuesday expands benefits for disabled veterans, their surviving spouses and children. It gives more money to disabled veterans to adapt their homes and cars to their living conditions, changing the car grant from $9,000 to $11,000, and increasing the housing grants from $48,000 to $50,000 for the most severely disabled veterans and from $9,250 to $10,000 for less severely disabled veterans. HOMETOWN HEROES SURVIVORS BENEFITS : The measure, signed previously by Bush, offers federal aid to the families of fire, police and emergency medical personnel who die of heart attacks or strokes on duty. Under the federal Public Safety Officers Benefits program at the Justice Department, families of these workers can receive a one-time benefit of $267,494 when their relative is killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
| csua.org/u/5ah -> sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2003/12/16/national1058EST0514.DTL He signed several others previously but was posing at official signing ceremonies for them throughout the day. In the Oval Office on Tuesday morning, Bush signed the so-called "can spam" legislation. Passed by Congress earlier this month, the measure outlaws the persistent techniques used by e-mailers who send tens of millions of messages each day to peddle their products and services. The bill supplants anti-spam laws already passed in some states, including California. It also encourages the Federal Trade Commission to create a do-not-spam list of e-mail addresses and includes penalties for spammers of up to five years in prison in rare circumstances. In the afternoon, the president went to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to sign the American Dream Downpayment Act. It is aimed at helping families that can afford monthly mortgage payments but not the initial costs associated with buying a house. Three-fourths of non-minority Americans own their own homes, but less than half of blacks, Hispanics and other minorities do. Through grants to state and local governments, low-income families would receive an average of about $5,000 to be help cover downpayment and closing costs on a first home. The other bills Bush was signing or holding photo sessions on: * PEDIATRIC EQUITY RESEARCH ACT: The legislation signed previously by Bush gives the Food and Drug Administration additional authority to require pediatric studies to ensure safe use of medicines in children. It allows the FDA to require testing of drugs for use in children when drug firms do not test them voluntarily. It calls for self-defense training for flight attendants and giving cargo pilots permission to carry guns. The legislation, signed previously by Bush, provides $14 billion for airport construction projects, including $140 million to help small communities attract and retain air service, and $308 million to ensure air service to isolated communities. It also sets aside $2 billion for airports to install bomb-screening machines as part of automated bag-handling systems to speed luggage checks. Bush was signing it Tuesday afternoon in the Oval Office. The estimated $400 million initial price tag would be split evenly between federal government and private sources. The bill authorizes $17 million in the first year to start the project. Bush's signature clears the way for fund raising and for the Smithsonian Board of Regents to choose a site. It gives more money to disabled veterans to adapt their homes and cars to their living conditions, changing the car grant from $9,000 to $11,000, and increasing the housing grants from $48,000 to $50,000 for the most severely disabled veterans and from $9,250 to $10,000 for less severely disabled veterans. Under the federal Public Safety Officers Benefits program at the Justice Department, families of these workers can receive a one-time benefit of $267,494 when their relative is killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. |
| csua.org/u/5ai -> www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/05/findlaw.analysis.ramasastry.spam/ Indeed, some reports estimates that industry loses up to $10 billion a year in terms of lost productivity and investment in software and other resources to filter spam. And the Pew Internet & American Life Project recently reported that 70 percent of e-mail users say spam has made their online experience unpleasant or annoying. Unfortunately, in practice, the new anti-spam law -- while well-intentioned -- may be ineffective. The sad news is that the new legislation is unlikely to achieve its goal of eliminating the bulk of the spam we receive. The specifics as to what the anti-spam legislation will prohibit To begin, the new law will not prohibit all spam. Instead, it will require that spam be truthful, and it will provide the government with enforcement mechanisms to go after fraudulent or deceptive spammers. They would face fines of $250 for each e-mail pitch -- fines that could total up to $6 million for the most serious offenders. It would also forbid senders of commercial e-mail from disguising themselves by using incorrect return e-mail addresses or misleading subject lines, and sets criminal penalties for those who do. The federal law does not allow individual e-mail users to sue spammers. Instead, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), other federal agencies, Internet Service Providers , and state attorneys general can sue on behalf of Internet users. An FTC study conducted earlier this year found that two-thirds of spam contains a false claim. Under the new law, consumers can choose to "opt out" of receiving it. Spammers will be required to provide an "opt out" mechanism within the email itself. By adding one's email address to a central directory, a consumer would theoretically notify all potential email marketers that he wished to receive no unsolicited commercial email. In reality, however, that almost certainly won't be the case -- for several reasons. Why the anti-spam legislation may well be ineffective Why won't the spam law work? First, much of the illegal or deceptive spam that we receive in the United States comes from overseas. Last week, the Nigerian government announced last week that it has set up a presidential panel to tackle economic crimes committed via the Internet, which is a step in the right direction. International measures will be necessary to truly eradicate fraudulent spam. Individuals or small businesses may not have the deep pockets to pay even if they are inclined to, which is unlikely. Fourth, spammers may simply ignore the Do Not Spam registry -- as FTC Chairman Timothy Muris predicts. A downside of federal legislation: Sweeping away state anti-spam laws In some states, the federal law may even make the spam situation worse. The new law expressly preempts existing state anti-spam laws which often provide greater protections for consumers. Unlike the federal law, many of these existing state laws allow individual email recipients to sue spammers directly -- whether or not the state attorney general agrees. California's new law -- which was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2004 -- is an example of a state anti-spam law more restrictive than the new federal law. It would have banned even truthful spam, as long as it was unsolicited (unless it was from a business with which the customer had an existing relationship). It would have made not only spammers, but also the advertisers who use spammers' services, liable. The scope of the California law was controversial and provided an impetus for marketers to push for new federal legislation instead. The Do Not Spam Registry may be subject to First Amendment challenge There's no First Amendment problem, of course, with restricting or penalizing lies or fraud. And the Do Not Spam Registry restricts commercial speech. Thus, the fate of a similar do-not-spam registry is similarly an open question In the end, the best solution will likely be technological, not legal Ultimately, the real solution to spam, I believe, will be more likely technological than legal, or some combination of these two, and potential other, approaches. As filters have improved, spammers have responded by sending even more mail to ensure that at least some gets through. Filtering and antivirus companies often seem one step behind the rapidly evolving methods of clever spammers. For instance, recently, messages masquerading as security notices from software companies -- and including viruses -- have managed to work their way through filters. The best way to solve the intractable problem may be changing the very architecture of e-mail itself. Internet-standard-setting bodies are examining ways of revising the code for delivering email so that ISPs can check whether the origin of incoming e-mail has been faked. Such changes would take years to be implemented and deployed by every network around the world. In the short run, some technologists have recommended "challenge/response" systems as a solution. These systems allow users to send direct messages only to people who have the sender's email address in their address books. When you e-mail a stranger, the system sends back a puzzle/question to which only a human, not an automated spam program, can respond with a solution. Some say they create additional email traffic thus congesting networks further. On a more basic level, every e-mail user can take basic steps to fight spam: Activate available spam filters. Never reply to spam, even in order to "unsubscribe," unless you are sure the sender is a legitimate business. Do not give out your primary email address too broadly, and review the privacy policies of Web sites where you register, to make sure they won't sell or circulate your email address to third parties. At this point, self-help may still be the best remedy for the headache caused by spam. And unfortunately, that will probably still be the case even after the federal "CAN Spam" law goes into effect. Columnist image Anita Ramasastry, a 35 FindLaw columnist, is an associate professor of law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle and a director of the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce & Technology. Story Tools 36 Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! |