Op-Eds
Letters to the Editor: We Must Address the Root Problem of Spam
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Much of the Internet industry's newfound support of e-mail spam legislation seems…
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Junk Laws Can’t Cut the Spam
Unsolicited commercial junk email, or “spam,” is a huge problem. Especially the porn; I have to shoo my children out of the room whenI check my e-mail. But junk legislation offered up to presumably solve the problem can make things worse. Touted at an unsolicited press conference last week, Sen. CharlesSchumer, New York Democrat, proposed legislation that would imposesubject-line labeling requirements for commercial e-mail (it wouldhave to say “ADV”); forbid concealing one's identity; mandate an”unsubscribe” mechanism; ban the use of software capable ofcollecting e-mails from the Internet; set up stiff non-compliancefines; and establish an expensive (and likely hackable and thus worse-than-useless) Do-Not-Spam list at the Federal TradeCommission. Of course, politicians exempt themselves as possibleoffenders under anti-spam legislation, remaining free to send usjunk campaign material. The downside to an Internet in which you can contact whomever youwant, is that anyone can contact you. Spammers pay no postage orlong-distance charges. The solution is to shift those costs back tothe spammer; the question is whether to do that is legislatively ortechnologically. Plainly, peddling fraudulent merchandise or impersonatingsomebody else (such as a person or organization like AOL) in the e-mail's header information should be punished, as should breaking anagreement made with an Internet service provider (ISP) thatprohibits bulk mailing. But in the debate over the outpouring of spam, it's important toavoid unintentionally stifling beneficial e-commerce. Regulatingcommunications isn't something to be done lightly. If a law merelysends the most egregious spammers offshore to continue hammering us,that may simply create legal and regulatory hassles for smallbusinesses trying to make a go of legitimate e-commerce, or formainstream companies that are not spammers. Commercial e-mail, evenif unsolicited, may be welcome if the sender is a business sellinglegal and legitimate products in a non-abusive manner. As the market works to shift costs of commercial e-mail back tothe sender, we must be on guard against legislative confusion inapproaches like Mr. Schumer's: How might the definition of spamexpand beyond unsolicited and commercial e-mail? What about unsolicited political or nonprofit bulk e-mailings,press releases, resume blasts and charitable solicitations? Whatabout newsletters that contain embedded ads? Or what about one'spersonal e-mail signature line with a link back to one's employer?That's a subtle solicitation, whether we admit it or not. At thevery least, unwise legislation would create serious headaches fornoncommercial e-mailers like nonprofit groups. Would pop-up adsbecome suspect in the aftermath of spam legislation? They're not e-mail, but they are unsolicited and commercial. Finally, legal bans on false e-mail return addresses, as well asbans on software capable of hiding such information, have worrisomeimplications for free speech and anonymity for individuals, and willbe ignored by spammers anyway. Well-meaning individuals can use”spamware” to create the contemporary version of the anonymousflyers that have played such an important role in our history.Individuals should retain the ability to safeguard their anonymityeven in (or perhaps especially in) a mass communications tool like e-mail. In an era in which so many people are concerned about onlineprivacy, a law that impedes a technology that can protect suchprivacy would be curious indeed. Smarter approaches to the spam epidemic include better e-mailfiltering, such as setting the owner's screen to delete bulk mailand to receive only from recognized and approved e-mail addresses.That's particularly appropriate for children's e-mail accounts.Emerging “handshake” or “challenge and response” systems capable oftotally blocking spam show promise: Because the most offensive spamis sent by automatic bulk-mailing programs that are not capable ofreceiving a reply, spam no longer appears in the in-box. Identifiers or “seals”' for trusted commercial e-mail could beanother means of helping ISPs block unwanted e-mail. A newconsortium including America Online, Microsoft, and Yahoo, toestablish “certified” e-mail would bolster this approach. Given the perfectly understandable desire to stop unsolicited e-mail, it is all too easy for Congress to undermine legitimatecommerce, communications and free speech. And crippling Internetcommerce would be especially pointless if spam continued pouring infrom overseas. A better target is unsolicited press conferences,like the one at which Mr. Schumer dropped his bill. $25,000 fine, atleast. Send payment to [email protected]. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />…
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When Molecules Fly
Should the federal government fund scientific research with taxpayer dollars? Boondoggles like the Superconducting Supercollider, the space station, energy research programs, the Supersonic…
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The Poindexter Awareness Office: Turning the Tables on Mr. Supersnoop
Talk is cheap, but surveillance is, too. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> The federal government's…
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The Chill from the Pentagon: The Total Information Awareness Project
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Human Bar Code
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Snoop, There It Is
As if it needed another headache after the dot-com and telecom crashes, the technology industry is facing a renewed push by Washington politicians…
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Electricity Restructuring Is No License For Central Planning
Economists sometimes gets confused—specially when the real world doesn't fit into their…
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Laws Can’t Protect Kids from Porn
When it comes to protecting kids from porn on Internet Web sites, should “community standards” apply that would restrict materials regarded by the…
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Anonymity in America: Does National Security Preclude It?
Anonymous speech has proud roots stretching to the origins of America. Gentlemen calling themselves “Publius” wrote the Federalist Papers. Thomas Paine's Common Sense…
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Wired – Or Tangled? (Letter to the Editor)
Today’s monopoly electricity market is the result of conscious political design, not natural monopoly characteristics. A monopoly cannot sustain itself—and hardly is “natural”—if those who…
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Break up Microsoft? (Letter to the Editor)
To the Editor: Of course Paul Krugman is right, that, along with the loss of a uniform standard that allows many kinds of software to…
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Gorging on Regulations
Congress is now debating the $1.8 trillion federal budget. While federal spending consumes an awesome 18 percent of nation’s economic product, the official budget at least…
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Regulatory Cost Balance Sheet
A new report to Congress by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) finds that health, safety and environmental regulations cost between $174 billion and…
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An Antitrust Division Run Amok (Letter to the Editor)
I would have happily signed a letter urging a cap on the Depart ment of Justice’s Antitrust Division budget if I’d been asked [`Hardball and Windows,” op-ed, Oct.
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Tyranny of the Unelected Regulators
Congress passed and the president signed into law 241 bills in 1998. Meanwhile, federal agencies were far busier: They issued 4,899 rules and regulations — 315…
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Constitutional Integrity (Letter to the Editor)
A May 24 editorial, “A retreat on clean air,” suggests that holding Congress to the Constitution will make solid environmental protection a “hazy, distant prospect,”…
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Who Makes Our Laws? (Letter to the Editor)
Surely Cass R. Sunstein is right that “greater respect for democratic government” is urgent (“The Courts’ Perilous Right Turn,” Op-Ed, June 2). But in his…
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Mandatory Open Access for Electricity: Is there a better way?
“Mandatory open access to the power grid is the wrong paradigm for restructuring. Although open access is advocated by virtually all of today’s reformers, it…
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Micro-managing Bill Gates
Full article available in pdf Republicans are known for praising markets and condemning overregulation of business. But oddly, they often conspicuously endorse…
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