Comments:

Re: CAN-SPAM Act Rulemaking, Project No. R411008 To the Commissioners, I applaud your efforts to curb the problem of unsolicited bulk email, but I'm concerned it will hurt legitimate marketers and be ignored by true spammers and pornographers. I believe the proposed requirement for merchants to maintain suppression lists is un unfair burden on true marketers and small business owners. The internet has opened the world to the small business owner, giving them the chance to work for themselves. In this day of uncertainty in the job market it is essential that legitimate small business owners/marketers have the opportunity to market to the public. 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, ******************************************************************* E-3 COMMENT - Women living alone are uncomfortable giving out their physical address for obvious reasons. ******************************************************************** REPORTS - DO NOT EMAIL REGISTRY - Would be a nightmare for the legitimate small business owner to monitor and would most likely put them out of business. REPORTS - REWARD SYSTEM - Creates opportunity for bored internet users to abuse system. REPORTS - EFFECTIVENESS & ENFORCEMENT - True spammers and pornographers will not comply. They will change ISPs and Email addresses and continute to spam. They will not give opt-out options or the ones they give will not work (I find that happens quite often). Legitimate business owners, even those with opt-in, including newsletters,could be falsely accused of spamming because people sometimes forget that they did opt-in.Also, since there are no systems in place to accomodate complying with the act, it would be almost impossible to meet the requirements in the act and for the small busiiness owners, it would be not only cost prohibitiive but an undue burden on the 'little guy' to comply. ******************************************************************* Thank you for your time. Respectfully, Teresa Hearld Pennsylvania - USA