Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I'm writing to voice some concerns about proposed rules regarding bulk email. While I favor efforts to control spam, I have some serious concerns about the proposed requirement that merchants maintain suppression lists. The idea has many problems and unfair costs, and would cause damage for businesses and consumers alike. Many high quality, valuable, legitimate internet publications would be seriously damaged by the requirement to use suppression lists, particularly for publishers who already take the responsible step of requiring permission from the consumer before adding a name to a list. CAN-SPAM was not designed to put these responsible publications out of business, but the suppression list requirement will very likely have that effect nonetheless. Consumers might also be harmed or inconvenienced, due to the problem of knowing their intention when being removed from a list. Another, perhaps more serious problem, is that these suppression lists might easily be acquired by spammers, who would then use them to create even more spam than before. I was surprised to learn of the potential problems this ruling could involve, and as someone who uses the internet both as a business owner and a consumer myself, I strongly urge you to reconsider the implementation of these requirements and the problems they raise. Respectfully, Mitchell V. Williams *REDACTED PERSONAL INFORMATION* USA