Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I am delighted that all of us are trying to do something proactive about stopping unsolicited bulk email. However, I feel the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists is NOT a good idea. The burden of time, expense and work hours associated with suppression lists will have a devastating affect of the free flow of commerce on the internet. I urge you to not require suppression lists, or do not email lists. Each individual (business or person) should be held responsible to delete people from their lists upon request, as specified in the ACT. To interpret the ACT with tighter regulation only creates more recording keeping and wasted time and money, AND will not solve the problem. Most legitimate publishers on the internet already have these systems in place, they know that if someone does not want to receive further information that it is futile to send the information in the first place, and the recipient should have requested the information prior to sending (ie, opt-in practices). These business owners are not who the CAN-SPAM was designed to put out of business, but requirements to burder legitimate business with this record-keeping and cleansing of lists for each mailout 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. At this time, we all have an excellent opportunity to clarify, rather than clamp down on the free flow of trade. Let us do that together. Respectfully, Mark Hendricks Trilby, FL USA