The US Federal Trade Commission has asked the US
Congress for greater powers in fighting spam, including the ability
to require internet service providers to turn over spam complaints
about their customers.
"Spam has become the weapon of choice for those engaged in fraud
and deception," said FTC commissioner Orson Swindle.
Among the spam measures the FTC requested were:
- The power to require third-party sources of information in an
investigation to keep FTC subpoenas confidential for a limited
period. When targets of FTC investigations are notified of
investigations, they often destroy documents, the FTC argued
- The ability to create new rules against deceptive and abusive
spam practices, including defining what is a deceptive or abusive
e-mail
- Permission to share information from FTC investigations with
counterparts in other countries. At present, the agency is
prohibiting from sharing certain investigative information with
other countries
- Clarification in law that a person who highjacks a customer's
e-mail account is an unauthorised user, not a customer of an ISP
entitled to protections under law.
Representatives of Verizon Communications and the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (Epic) said they supported the FTC's
ideas for fighting spam on the whole, but objected to specific
pieces of the proposal.
Allowing the FTC to obtain the text of e-mail messages without
prior notice to the customer would give the agency broad powers
other law enforcement agencies do not enjoy, said Sarah Deutsch,
vice president and associate general counsel of Verizon.
Verizon, which has fought subpoenas of the names of music
downloaders from the Recording Industry Association of America,
recommended the FTC get an order from a judge before receiving
access to a person's e-mail.
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of Epic, raised similar
objections, saying the FTC's proposed subpoena power could
sacrifice US privacy rights.
But senators did not question the FTC proposals, instead calling
for the agency to get tougher on spam. Swindle noted that the FTC
has recently prosecuted several spammers. "We have had recently a
number of relatively good hangings," he said. "But the spam goes
on."
Swindle advocated a multifaceted approach to fighting spam,
including legislation and the IT industry stepping up and providing
more technological tools to consumers. He faulted technology
companies for not creating those tools for consumers to control
their in-boxes.
The FTC also asked Congress to allow it to investigate consumer
fraud cases at telecommunications carriers, which have been exempt
from FTC oversight. Commissioners argued that telecom carriers now
compete with entertainment and technology companies that are
subject to FTC investigations.
But Lawrence Sarjeant, general counsel of the United States
Telecom Association, argued that telecommunications companies are
already regulated by the Federal Communications Commissions and
state public service commissions.
Grant Gross writes for IDG News Service