Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I applaud your efforts to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email. However, the Can Spam Act has done very little to curb unsolicited email. Furthermore, I am greatly concerned that the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists will do tremendous harm to legitimate businesses. There are numerous problems and costs associated with this idea, and so much damage will be done to consumers and businesses alike, that I feel I must urge you to re-consider this matter most urgently and 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. Most law abiding publishers will have an opt-in form already established on their websites which requires a further email confirmation from the consumer that they want to recieve the publication before being added to the list. They're not who CAN-SPAM was designed to put out of business, but this requirement will highly likely have that effect. It does nothing to address those who persistently and blatantly flout the Act, and it does not address the prime problem of spam. 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 shocked and deeply concerned at the potential problems this ruling could involve, and the serious damage it will do to the majority of legitimate businesses. I therefore urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider its implementation. Respectfully, David Haynes United Kingdom