Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008To the Commissioners,I am an online merchant and am currently developing an online affiliate program. Internet marketing, especially email marketing, has become an integral part of my marketing strategy. I only use opt-in mailing lists that I carefully monitor. This has been very lucrative for me. In the current financial climate I have been able to overcome many of the difficulties by starting my own entrepreneurial business, which our government happens to support exstensively for women. I would like to think that our government wouldn't take actions to prevent the rights of legitimate business owners, who have respect for the laws that govern them. This is why I am concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists.There are so many problems and costs associated with this idea, and so much damage done to consumers and businesses alike, that I feel I must urge you to consider this matter most carefully.Requirement of the use of suppression lists will seriously damage many of the legitimate publications available on the net. My specific concern is for harm to publishers who require permission from the consumer prior to adding them to any list.They're not who CAN-SPAM was designed to put out of business, but this requirement will very likely have that effect.There's also the potential for significant harm to consumers, because of the problem of properly knowing their intent when they unsubscribe from a list. On top of that, these suppression lists could easily fall into the hands of spammers, leading to more spam instead of less.I was quite surprised at the potential problems this ruling could involve, and urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider its implementation in light of these problems,Respectfully,Beth EichenbaumNew York