| Comment Number: | OL-100173 |
| Received: | 9/14/2004 3:57:48 PM |
| Organization: | Coastline Community College |
| Commenter: | Neal Evans |
| State: | CA |
| Agency: | Federal Trade Commission |
| Rule: | Definitions, Implementation, and Reporting Requirements Under the CAN-SPAM Act (NPRM) |
| Docket ID: | [3084-AA96] |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
This is an addendum to my previous comments... My previous comments focused on SPAM from e-mail sources, but one of the most damaging forms of SPAM are popups. Recently at our college, a number of computers have been rendered useless because of a storm of popups on the screen. We were unable to remove all of the popups and as soon as we accessed the Internet, the computer was flooded with more popups. We had to completely rebuild the computers to finally remove the popups, resulting in lost productivity and the cost of rebuilding the computers. These SPAMMERS use deceptive, fraudulent and spoofed methods to install these popup programs onto computer systems. This is trespassing and their actions result in the destruction of property - causing financial loss. These popups are as ruthless and damaging as a virus or worm. SPAMMERS who damage computers with popups should be held accountable for both criminal and civil acts, the same as someone who hacks into computers or releases a virus/worm into intranets and/or the Internet. There should be a federal digital trespassing law that states that you cannot enter into a public or private network via the Interrnet, airways, postal service, delivery service or telephone, to install or deposit any form of software without permission and FULL disclosure of what is being installed. This should also include provisions for social engineering - convincing someone via the telephone or mail to visit a website/URL or download a file from the Internet. The SPAMMER could argue implied permission since the user performed the task required to install software on their computer. Thank you again for providing this forum.