Comment Number: EREG-000114
Received: 4/13/2004 4:01:32 PM
Organization: Android Technologies, Inc.
Commenter: Peter Immarco
State: ID
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Rule: CAN-SPAM ANPR
Docket ID: [3084-AA96]
No Attachments

Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, Thank you for your attempts to improve the quality of unsolicited bulk e-mail. Unfortunately I have some severe reservations about your proposed requirement to have businesses maintain suppression lists. This is one of those ideas that sounds good on the surface, but will be so hard for the average business to implement that it will end up damaging the marketing efforts, and therefore revenues, of millions of American businesses. In addition, it will be one of those onerous legislations that end up harming legitimate e-mail senders, without slowing down or hindering the illegitimate e-mail senders at all. They will simply move offshore and ignore the law, once again leaving the rest of us to struggle with the legal minefield they have left behind. It will leave the legitimate e-mail marketer with a weapon that can be used against them for entirely different purposes than the ones that you intend; such as competitive sabotage, abuse by angry customers without legitimate grievances, and employee revenge by disenchanted or terminated employees. Proper implementation of a centralized suppression list, amongst a myriad of customer lists, departments, and the typical chain of wholesalers, resellers and marketing agents will not be possible. That kind of communication between these parties does not exist today and would be prohibitively expensive to implement even improperly. It will create confusion and harm sales, while affording limited if any protection to the consumer. Please abolish the idea of a centralized suppression list and instead substitute a better mechanism that serves the interests better of both the consumer and the merchant. Sincerely Yours, Peter Immarco Boise, Idaho 83703