Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 09:53:38 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <200205171353.JAA12515@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
Subject: S.630

Dear Senator Kerry

As your constituent I write to convey my concerns regarding S.630, the
`Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM)
Act.'  This bill is slated to be marked up today by the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation, of which you are a member.

This bill would create criminal and civil penalties for actions that are often
associated with the distribution of unsolicited commercial (`spam') email,
including the use of false or misleading header lines, the use of false or
deceptive subject lines, the failure to include a functioning return address,
and the failure to include a valid physical postal address.

Like most people, I'm annoyed by spam and would like to find a way of stopping
it.  However, I'm concerned that S.630 as currently written could be
mis-applied.  What would happen, for instance, if due to technical problems a
return address stopped working?  What standards determine whether a particular
header line is misleading?  Will people who conduct business out of their homes
be required to disclose their home addresses?

I hope that these issues of vagueness can be addressed before S.630 is
reported.

Sincerely,
Matthew Belmonte