Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I applaud your efforts to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email. Heaven knows we all experience this problem every day and I personally loath the people who send me this rubbish to fill my inbox day in day out. However, I am concerned about the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists of subscribers who do not want to be sent any marketing material from certain vendors. 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 my Business and those of many of my friends - we are not sending spam to any of our double opt-in subscribers who look forward to our informative email messages each fortnight. These messages are educational in nature and often contain a link to an affiliate product we are promoting that complements the specific lesson or story contained in our message. My fear is that I will no longer be allowed to send any affiliate product promotions to my loyal list of subscribers who regularly buy the products a I recommend. My specific concern is for harm to myself and other publishers who require permission from the consumer prior to adding them to any list. We're not who CAN-SPAM was designed to put out of business, but this requirement will very likely have that effect on me, as my business is totally on-line and based on promoting affiliate products related to my niche market. 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. They may not want to hear from that particular person again because they are not interested in receiving their letters anymore, but are quite happy to receive email messages from me with links to the same affiliate products contained in them. On top of that, these suppression lists could easily fall into the hands of spammers, leading to more spam instead of less. I am certain this was not the intent of the legislation as it was originally written. I a deeply concerned with 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, Rockford Tapscott Queensland, Australia