Comment Number: OL-103264
Received: 4/15/2004 12:05:45 AM
Organization:
Commenter: Mitch Baldwin
State: Not in the US
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Rule: CAN-SPAM ANPR
Docket ID: [3084-AA96]
No Attachments

Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, Your intention to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email is much admired. However, I am very concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists. There are so many problems and costs to legitimate business associated with this idea that I would ask you to re consider the manner in which you intend to resolve this issue. 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, Respectfully, Mitch Baldwin British Columbia Canada