WASHINGTON: The federal government is planning for the first time to go after
"spammers" who swamp Internet users with deceptive e-mail offers, a
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) official said on Thursday.
The FTC will announce enforcement actions as early as next week against
online marketers who use deceptive claims in their e-mail pitches, said J.
Howard Beales, director of the FTC's enforcement bureau.
It will be the first time the consumer-protection agency has specifically
targeted spammers in an investigation, Beales told Reuters. "We're
interested in the spams where the message itself is deceptive. We think if that
went away there would be a whole lot less spam in the world, and that's a place
to start," Beales told Reuters.
Spam has long been a hot-button issue for Internet users, who often find
their inboxes clogged with unsolicited offers for pornography, fake diplomas,
and get-rich-quick schemes. Currently 18 states regulate commercial e-mail, but
attempts to pass a national antispam law have stumbled over opposition from
direct marketers who say their activities would be unfairly limited.
The FTC will use existing laws banning false or deceptive trade practices to
go after spammers, Beales said. "There's an enormous range of stuff where
what they're trying to tell you is essentially fraudulent," he said. The
agency will target spammers who offer consumers the ability to opt out of their
e-mail lists but instead bombard them with more junk e-mail when they respond,
he said.
Pyramid schemes, get-rich-quick opportunities, chain letters, and other
common online scams will be targeted as well, he said. Spammers who use fake
return addresses will not be a priority at first, he said.
Spammers are not likely to face large fines from FTC actions. In
deceptive-trade cases, the agency can usually only force companies to give back
profits they made through deceptive means, or pursue "structural"
remedies that modify future behavior.
(C) Reuters Limited.