On May 17, 2002 the Senate Commerce Committee approved the Can Spam Act sponsored by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The bill would create civil and criminal liability for spammers who deceive recipients about their e-mail or physical addresses, and allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state regulators to sue on behalf of spam recipients. "My bill strangles out spam e-mail by imposing steep fines and empowering consumers with the choice to close the doors to hyper-marketing once and for all," said Senator Burns.
Business lobbyists persuaded Senator Burns to allow exemptions for companies that can show a "pre-existing relationship" with the recipient, i.e., a transaction or electronic correspondence initiated by the recipient with the past three years. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) offered an amendment, also approved, that makes it illegal to send spam to addresses harvested from a Web site.
