Bill to stop spammers gains steam in Congress

WASHINGTON — Congress moved significantly closer to the first federal protections against unwanted commercial e-mails, with the House passing a bill Saturday that would impose new limits on sending irritating offers on the Internet. Final approval by lawmakers could come before Thanksgiving.

The measure would outlaw the shadiest techniques used by many of the Internet’s most prolific e-mailers and include penalties of up to five years in prison in rare circumstances.

But it also would supplant even tougher anti-spam laws already passed in some states, including a California law scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

Passed on a 392-5 vote, the House bill largely mirrors "Can Spam" legislation the Senate approved last month. Supporters hoped slight differences between the two measures could be resolved before Congress adjourns for the year. The Bush administration has supported anti-spam efforts.

The bills would prohibit senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from disguising their identity by using a false return address or misleading subject line. They also would prohibit senders from harvesting addresses off Web sites and require such e-mails to include a mechanism so recipients can indicate they do not want future mass mailings.

Both bills authorize the Federal Trade Commission to establish a do-not-spam list similar to the agency’s popular do-not-call list of telephone numbers that marketers are supposed not to call. The FTC has criticized the idea, and the Direct Marketing Association has described it as "a bad idea that is never going to work."

Microsoft Corp.’s chairman, Bill Gates, called the House vote "a milestone in the battle against spam and a major step toward preserving e-mail as a powerful communication tool." He noted that unwanted e-mails cost businesses millions of dollars a year and expose children and families to pornographic and fraudulent content.

The Senate passed its bill last month, 97-0. The government’s hurried efforts so late in the congressional session were fueled by Internet users fed up with e-mail inboxes clogged with unwanted offers for pornography and get-rich schemes.