[IP] Mass. Senate passes bill to fight 'spam'
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Mass. Senate passes bill to fight 'spam'
By Associated Press, 9/26/2003
Massachusetts Internet users may get a chance to fight back against
unwanted e-mail, better known as spam.
The state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill yesterday requiring
businesses that send out commercial e-mail to put the letters ''ADV,'' for
advertisement, in the e-mail's subject line.
Anyone sending out sexually explicit e-mail would be required to put the
letters ''ADV:ADLT'' in the subject line.
The bill makes an exception for e-mail from nonprofit groups or political
organizations and candidates. Senator Jarrett Barrios, a Cambridge Democrat
and the bill's sponsor, said the measure is an improvement over a new
California law that bans all unsolicited commercial e-mail sent or received
in California and imposes fines of up to $1 million per incident.
The bill would also prohibit the use of misleading information in e-mails
such as false sender addresses or misleading subject lines; require all
commercial e-mail messages to have a ''clear and conspicuous notice'' about
how recipients can delete their names from the list; and make it illegal to
use a third party's Internet address without their consent. The bill would
allow individuals to sue anyone who violates the law and would impose a
fine of $500 per message sent or $750 if the recipient is 65 or older.
The legislation covers e-mails sent on computers in Massachusetts, e-mails
sent using service provider equipment located in Massachusetts, and e-mail
messages where the sender knows or should know that the recipient lives in
Massachusetts.
This story ran on page C2 of the Boston Globe on 9/26/2003.
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