CAN-SPAM Act Survey Released

The results of a recent survey put into question the effectiveness of the US CAN-SPAM Act, America's first federal anti-spam legislation, which came into force on January 1, 2004. The statute represents an attempt to regulate spamming by prohibiting some common spamming techniques such as falsifying senders' true identities, using misleading subject lines and improperly harvesting e-mail addresses. Conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project between February 3 and March 1, 2004, the survey suggests that spam may be more widespread today than when the Act first came into force. Of those surveyed with personal e-mail accounts, 24% noticed that they were getting more spam, 20% were getting less spam, 53% hadn't noticed any change and 3% did not know or never received spam. Of those surveyed with work-related e-mail accounts, 19% reported they were getting more spam, 11% were getting less, 53% hadn't noticed a change and 18% didn't know or never received spam. Nearly 30% of the respondents said they had reduced their overall use of e-mail because of spam. America Online disagrees with the survey's suggestion that the impact of the federal law has been minimal. An AOL spokesperson said that AOL had observed a reduction in the amount of incoming spam since early March. Internet service providers AOL, Microsoft, Earthlink and Yahoo recently announced that they have commenced legal proceedings under the Act against hundreds of spammers. Supporters of the legislation point out that the incidence of spam could be higher without the Act in place and some say that it is simply too early to judge the ultimate effectiveness of the statute. For the text of the survey, see: http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Data_Memo_on_Spam.pdf. For related news reports, visit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2279-2004Mar17.html. For the text of the legislation, see: http://news.findlaw.com/nytimes/docs/cyberlaw/canspamact03.pdf. Summary by: Clare McCurley