Comments:

To the Commissioners, I applaud your efforts to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email. However, 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. I have been trying to build a business on the net for just under six months. I have a small list of opt-in subscribers to whom I mail on a regular basis. I am not wealthy. Many of the people on my list are from the far east and see the web as a means out of poverty. It is very difficult to make any sort of living on the net it involves hard work, patience and a determination to succeed. I do NOT agree with spam, any unsolicited mail I receive goes in the bin as does any unsolicited mail I receive through my letterbox. I am, however very disturbed at the direction the spam laws are now heading; from what I understand the new regulations will make it difficult if not impossible for people like myself to run a legitimate business using email. The cost of setting up a suppression list would be prohibitive to those very people like myself who see the web as a means of escaping the poverty trap by starting a small business. Most of us who start businesses on the net do so through the means of affiliate programs. These programs enable people like myself with little or no experience in web marketing to make a start at little or no cost whilst receiving training from the company whose products we are selling. The new regulations would spell the end of promotion of affilate programs by email. It would thus make life even more difficult for those people who see the web as a way out of their financial difficulties. I do applaud any efforts on your part to rid the internet world of those unpleasant individuals who send out offensive emails.Please do not include legitimate advertisers with the above. Please note, many ISP's already block spam. As a woman in business on the internet I think you should also consider the advisability of revealing too much personal information. I work from home so I am particularly concerned here with having to disclose my personal address and telephone number. I have a fifteen year old daughter and many people I know who work on the net have children. Is too much information on the net safe for our children? Without advertising no business would be able to sell its products and at the end of the day the consumer would suffer through lack of choice. I would personally rather buy from someone who I have built up a relationship of trust with through email rather than from an advertisement on a website. The internet is a wonderful place of opportunity, please do not make it impossible for the ordinary man or woman in the street to carry on a business there. Respectfully, Margaret Doohan(Mrs) United Kingdom