Unsolicited e-mail legislation
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HOUSE BILL 2752 [status]
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State of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By Representatives Bush, Crouse, Gardner, Cairnes, Dyer, Mulliken,
Morris, Linville, Reams, Romero, Smith, McDonald, Ogden, Dickerson,
Butler, O'Brien, Ballasiotes, Talcott and Appelwick; by request of
Attorney General
Read first time 01/19/98. Referred to Committee on Energy & Utilities.
AN ACT Relating to electronic mail; adding a new chapter to Title
19 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the volume
of unsolicited electronic mail has grown exponentially in the past year
as individuals and organizations have discovered that they are able to
send electronic advertisements to hundreds of thousands or millions of
internet users at virtually no cost.
Unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages constitute the
majority of unsolicited electronic mail. Unsolicited commercial
electronic mail messages often impose an out-of-pocket monetary cost on
recipients who cannot refuse such messages and incur incremental fees
for time spent accessing and reviewing each message.
To the recipient, unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages
are often indistinguishable from other electronic mail messages. The
unsolicited messages thus diminish the utility of electronic mail
service because users must wade through unwanted advertisements to
obtain those messages they wish to receive.
Unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages cannot be
effectively blocked and, thus, invade the privacy of recipients. This
invasion of privacy is exacerbated for recipients whose electronic mail
service issues an alert for each message received, resulting in
repeated disruption of computer use.
Advertisers may reach electronic mail users by less intrusive
means, means which do not impose the cost of unwanted advertisements on
recipients and do not interfere with recipients' ability to use
electronic mail service. Advertisers may also continue to use
electronic mail as a low-cost method of reaching a wide audience, if
their mailings are solicited.
Unsolicited electronic mail sent in bulk often imposes significant
monetary costs on interactive computer services, businesses, and
educational and nonprofit institutes because they must divert a
significant portion of their limited computing resources to processing
and storing those messages and to responding to ensuing complaints by
recipients. Unsolicited electronic mail is increasingly diminishing
the quality of service provided to customers of interactive computer
services and is harming the interactive computer services themselves.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Electronic mail address" means a destination, commonly
expressed as a string of characters, to which electronic mail may be
sent or delivered.
(2) "Initiate the transmission" refers to the action by the
original sender of an electronic mail message, not to the action by any
intervening interactive computer service that may handle or retransmit
the message, unless the intervening interactive computer service
retransmits the message with an intent to engage in activities
prohibited by this section.
(3) "Interactive computer service" means any information service,
system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer
access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically
a service or system that provides access to the internet and such
systems operated or services offered by libraries or educational
institutions.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 3. (1) No person, corporation,
partnership, or association may initiate the transmission of an
unsolicited electronic mail message from a computer located in
Washington or to a Washington resident's electronic mail address, to
promote real property, goods, or services for purchase or lease by the
recipient.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, this
section does not apply to: (a) An electronic mail message intended to
be delivered exclusively to existing customers who have previously
purchased or leased goods or services from the sender; (b) an
electronic mail message sent for the purpose of collecting an existing
obligation; or (c) an electronic mail message sent with the consent of
all intended recipients. However, if an existing customer provides to
a business written or electronic notice that the customer does not wish
to receive further electronic mail messages from that business, the
business shall not send the customer any further unsolicited electronic
mail messages.
(3) A person may not initiate an unsolicited electronic mail
message under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section if the
person knows or reasonably should know that any of the recipients is a
governmental entity, unless that entity has consented to the receipt of
the electronic mail message.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 4. (1) If a person, corporation,
partnership, or association initiates the transmission of an
unsolicited commercial electronic mail message from a computer located
in Washington or to a Washington resident's electronic mail address to
promote real property, goods, or services for purchase or lease by the
recipient, that person or entity shall cause the following information
to appear in each electronic mail message transmitted:
(a) The term "advertisement"; and
(b) The legal name, mailing address, true electronic mail address,
physical address, and telephone number, including area code, of the
person, corporation, partnership, or association initiating
transmission of the message and the date and time the message was sent.
(2) The information specified in subsection (1)(a) of this section
must appear as the first word on the subject line of the electronic
mail message, without any prior text or symbol.
(3) The information specified in subsection (1)(b) of this section
must appear prominently in the body of the message.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 5. The unsolicited transmission of
electronic mail messages promoting real property, goods, or services
for purchase or lease by the recipient in violation of this section is
a matter affecting the public interest for the purpose of applying the
consumer protection act, chapter 19.86 RCW. The transmission of
unsolicited electronic mail messages in violation of this section is
not reasonable in relation to the development and preservation of
business. A violation of this section is an unfair or deceptive act in
trade or commerce for the purpose of applying the consumer protection
act, chapter 19.86 RCW.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 6. (1) Damages to the recipient of an
unsolicited electronic mail message sent in violation of this section
are five hundred dollars, or actual damages, whichever is greater.
(2) Damages to an interactive computer service resulting from a
violation of this section are one thousand dollars, or actual damages,
whichever is greater.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 7. (1) An interactive computer service
may, upon its own initiative, block the receipt or transmission through
its service of any electronic mail which it reasonably believes is, or
will be, sent in violation of this chapter.
(2) No interactive computer service may be held liable for any
action voluntarily taken in good faith to block the receipt or
transmission through its service of any electronic mail which it
reasonably believes is, or will be, sent in violation of this section.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act
constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.
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