Comments:

The implementation of a National Do Not Email Registry: -The DNE Registry may sound good in theory, but under most cases, it would be extremely fallible in practice. Consumers who might be excited about the prospect of stopping spam and being able to read the e-mail that they actually want to see will be disappointed to see A. that elusive spammers will disregard the threat punishment in violating the DNE registry and B. that they no longer receive what they feel is valuable e-mail from marketers that they know, trust and from whom they have requested e-mail updates. By endorsing the DNE registry, the FTC stands to bear some considerable blame in misunderstanding the spam problem and stopping legitimate marketing communications that consumers want. The effectiveness and enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act: We have some similar concerns about the CAN-SPAM Act as we do about the DNE registry. Law-abiding and ethical advertising agencies such as ourselves (and the Fortune 100 companies we represent) worked to meet the requirements of CAN-SPAM. Judging by the amount of spam that still gets delivered, this has not made an impact on the problem. Agencies and marketers such us us and our clients were never the source of the spam problem to begin with, yet legitimate marketers are the only group who pay attention to this legislation. Until the FTC finds out a way to truly know who the sender of all e-mail messages is, legislation will not be an effective solution to the spam problem. In the online environment, knowing the true sender of a message can be virtually impossible if the mailer doesn't want to be known.