Senate Panel OKs
Hatch-Leahy Bill Aimed At Internet Spammers
. . . bipartisan measure creates
federal crime
prohibiting predatory and abusive
commercial e-mail
WASHINGTON (Thurs. Sept.
25) – The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday unanimously approved a
bill that would curb the technological menace clogging America’s
inboxes -- Internet spam.
Sens. Orrin Hatch
(R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the panel’s chairman and ranking
Democratic member, authored and introduced the Criminal Spam Act of
2003 earlier this summer.
The bill targets the
pernicious problem at its source by taking aim at the most egregious
offenders: those who hijack computer systems or use other fraudulent
means to send junk commercial e-mail.
“Without a doubt, spam is a serious problem
that is threatening to undermine the vast potential of the Internet
to foster the free exchange of information and commerce,” said
Leahy. “Our bill targets the principal techniques that spammers use
to evade filtering software and hide their trails. Ridding
America’s inboxes of deceptively delivered spam would help clear our
electronic channels for Internet users from coast-to-coast.”
Internet Service Providers and employers have
taken numerous and costly steps to shield customers and employees
from the billions of spam each day, but the spammers are winning the
battle. A recent study by Ferris Research estimates that spam costs
U.S. businesses $8.9 billion annually as a result of lost
productivity and the need to purchase more powerful servers and
additional equipment and software.
Spam is also fertile ground for deceptive trade
practices. The FTC has estimated that 96 percent of the spam
involving investment and business opportunities, and nearly half of
the spam advertising health services and products, and travel and
leisure, contains false or misleading information.
The repercussions from spam are more than just
financial. Such junk e-mail may introduce viruses, worms, and
destructive programs into personal and business computer systems,
including those that support our national infrastructure.
Leahy, sometimes known as ‘the cyber senator’
for his enthusiasm for and leadership on Internet issues, said, “I
have often said that the government should regulate the Internet
only when absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, spammers have made
this one of those times.”
The Hatch-Leahy
Criminal Spam Act of 2003 (S. 1293) includes the following
provisions:
- Makes it a crime to
hack into a computer, or to use a computer system that the owner
has made available for other purposes, as a conduit for bulk
commercial e-mail;
- Prohibits sending
bulk commercial e-mail that either falsifies the source,
destination or routing information associated with the e-mail, or
is generated from hijacked Internet address space or falsely
registered e-mail accounts or domain names;
- Subjects violators to
stiff criminal penalties of up to 5 years’ imprisonment where the
offense is committed in furtherance of any felony, or where the
defendant has previously been convicted of a similar federal or
state offense, and up to 3 years’ imprisonment where other
aggravating factors exist.
The bipartisan
Criminal Spam Act of 2003 is also cosponsored by Sens. Charles
Schumer (D-NY), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA),
Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), and John Edwards (D-NC).
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Related Links:
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy Ranking
Member, Senate Committee On The Judiciary On S. 1293, The "Criminal
Spam Act Of 2003" September 25, 2003
