Electronic Mailbox Protection Act of 1997
S. 875
Introduced by Senator Robert Torricelli on June 11, 1997

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS (Senate - June 11, 1997)

[Page: S5508]

By Mr. TORRICELLI:

S. 875. A bill to promote online commerce and communications, to protect consumers and service providers from the misuse of computer facilities by others sending bulk unsolicited electronic mail over such facilities, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

THE ELECTRONIC MAILBOX PROTECTION ACT OF 1997

Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Electronic Mailbox Protection Act of 1997, in the hopes of addressing an increasingly serious threat to online commerce and personal privacy rights--the distribution of unsolicited, bulk e-mail by unidentifiable senders.

It is an unfortunate side effect of the burgeoning and exciting world of online communication and commerce that more and more individuals are finding their electronic mailboxes filled to the cyber-brim with unsolicited messages. And many Internet service providers are facing slowdowns or even breakdowns of their systems due to uncontrollable and unaccountable senders of unidentifiable and unsolicited bulk e-mail.

Mr. President, some have suggested that we simply ban all unsolicited e-mail. But some people do want to receive these unsolicited messages, especially when they are tailored to their personal interests. And legitimate businesses and organizations are increasingly using unsolicited e-mail to recruit new customers, new members, or even financial assistance.

However, many people do not wish to receive unsolicited e-mail at all. And many new businesses are less than fully legitimate--all too frequently, unsolicited e-mail arrives with no return address, and no means of opting-out of future mailings. In fact, it is precisely because many bulk e-mailers know that their activities are going to meet massive opposition that they disguise their identities or alter their return addresses.

Newly developed software and increasingly brazen cyber-promoters have only exacerbated the problem. In some cases, these messages have slowed down or even crippled Internet service through local or national Internet service providers.

Many of these new cyber-promoters collect millions of addresses from service providers without consent, mail to those who have already expressed a desire to be kept off bulk e-mail lists, or purposefully disguise their identity or return address. They refuse to yield to public pressure, private suit or any other citizen action, and the more destructive of their tactics must be addressed before the situation overwhelms the Internet and paralyzes legitimate online commerce--something must be done.

As a result, I have been working for some time now with privacy groups, marketers, online service providers, and others to develop strong but reasonable legislation to put a stop to the most destructive e-mail practices, while protecting the first amendment rights of all who wish to send legitimate e-mail of any kind.

Mr. President, I have long been concerned about excessive--indeed any--Government regulation of the Internet. Many of the best qualities of American life are represented and enhanced by the Internet--the world's most democratic medium--and I do not wish to stifle speech or inhibit the freedom of commerce or expression. However, the problem of unaccountable junk e-mailers will not go away, and if we do not address this problem with legislation we risk the destruction of all legitimate expression and commerce on the information superhighway.

After a long back and forth process with a wide variety of interests, I believe we are all finally in agreement that the bill I introduce today represents the strongest and most balanced approach to this growing problem. Specifically, my bill includes the following key provisions.

First, and most simply, my bill will prohibit anyone from sending e-mail to a person who has asked not to receive such mail--either prior to receiving the first message or in response to an unsolicited message that made its way into the recipients mailbox. Mr. President, this provision requires no more than common courtesy and proper business sense. But unfortunately, this provision is sorely needed by the thousands--even millions--of recipients of repetitive and unsolicited e-mail.

And the bill also contains a pro-active provision which effectively defines prior notice as including either direct notice or notice through a standard method adopted by an Internet standard setting body, like the Internet Engineering Task Force.