Comments:

April 14, 2004 Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, Efforts to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email go without notice, however, owners of internet businesses are concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists. While this idea has its merits, there are many problems and costs associated with it, and much damage can be done to the consumers and businesses. With this in mind, I urge you to consider this matter carefully. To require the use of suppression lists will seriously damage many of the legitimate publications that are available on the net. A specific concern is with the publishers who would need to require permission from the consumer prior to adding them to any list. I understand that these net business owners are not being targeted for CAN-SPAM, but this requirement could easily have that effect. Also there is 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 am not surprised at the potential problems this ruling could involve, and I urge you in to reconsider its implementation in light of these problems, Respectfully, Janis Searcey Nebraska, Lancaster County