FTC Continues Fight Against Spammers
A law enforcement campaign targeting spammers was announced by the FTC, U.S. attorneys, the FBI, Canadian consumer protection officials, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and 3 state attorneys general Tues. The effort targets CAN-SPAM Act violators who send e-mails with false header information, use misleading subject lines, fail to include an opt-out mechanism and don’t include the sender’s physical address.
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Under Operation Button Pusher, the FTC has filed 3 cases, the Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) has settled 2 and the Fla., N.C. and Tex. attorneys general have filed complaints against 3 defendants. The cases were developed through “proxy pots” -- PCs that receive spam and pass routing information to law enforcement.
Andrea Rosen, CCB Asst. Deputy Commissioner, said 400 people fell victim to spam marketing of a fuel-saving device. After a Nov. trial the defendants agreed to stop making false or misleading representations to the public and paid a fine. In 2 of FTC’s cases, preliminary court orders froze the defendants’ assets. FTC’s 3rd hearing is scheduled for today (Wed.).
“We're sending a signal to other spammers who may be operating in our state that we won’t tolerate these deceptive e-mails,” said N.C. Attorney Gen. Roy Cooper. The spam he targeted was for a bogus product claiming to boost gas mileage.
“There is no place to hide,” said Lydia Parnes, FTC Consumer Protection Bureau dir.: “We're using technology and teamwork in the battle against illegal spam. Taken together, they are helping us combat the outlaw spammers who disregard laws designed to prevent fraud and protect consumers’ rights.”
An FTC assessment of the CAN-SPAM Act indicated consumers are receiving less spam than they did in 2003. The assessment also showed that legitimate advertisers are observing the law’s requirements. But Parnes attributed most of the spam decrease to the advancement of antispam technology, and not the law itself. “We're not here to say the spam problem is solved; we're just making progress,” Parnes said. Before CAN-SPAM, an FTC study found 66% of opt-out links didn’t work at all; in recent research of 100 top online business using e-mail, 89% honored opt-out requirements.
While ISPs are doing a good job at reducing spam, consumers need to take responsibility as well, Parnes said. The FTC is encouraging people to protect themselves and their computers from CAN-SPAM violators by adopting “7 practices for safer computing” (OnGuardOnline.gov).
The FTC recognized the need to improve CAN-SPAM and included steps to do so in its report to Capitol Hill: (1) Passing the U.S. SAFE WEB Act to improve the FTC’s ability to trace foreign spammers. (2) Educating consumers on how to protect themselves from spam. (3) Improving antispam technology, especially on tracing sources. - Jennifer Stevens