Vol. I, No. 9 (May22, 1998)

Assembly Moves Bill to Ban Junk E-Mail

In the 1980’s, "junk faxes" clogged office and home fax machines with advertisements from companies trying to sell their products or services. Congress and the Legislature prohibited junk faxes from senders who had been requested by the receiver to stop sending the faxes.

Thanks to advancing technology, e-mail subscribers are being deluged with "spam," or what is considered the electronic equivalent of junk mail. However, under a proposed law, e-mail users may get a break.

AB 1676 would prohibit unsolicited commercial electronic mail for being sent to a recipient if that person has requested the sender to cease sending e-mails. Assemblywoman Debra Bowen (D-Torrance) has successfully moved her Assembly Bill 1676 out of the Assembly this week.

Bowen argues that companies that barrage e-mail users with unwelcome advertisements spend little of their own resources on this method of advertising, while receivers are burdened by wading through the ads and moving them off of their system. In addition, on-line service can be slowed or disrupted by mass e-mailing.

Opponents of the measure, which include the Adult Entertainment Industry Education Fund and the California Adult Webmasters Association, argue the measure would impede free speech. The Senate will now consider the measure.

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