FTC nixes "do-not-spam" list.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis - Federal Trade Commission

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) told Congress that a national "do-not-spam" e-mail registry could not be enforced effectively, would not reduce the amount of spam consumers receive, and might even increase it.

In the CAN-SPAM law passed last December, Congress ordered the commission to investigate the feasibility of allowing e-mail users to place their e-mail addresses in a registry for those who do not want unsolicited messages. In its report, the FTC said anti-spam efforts should instead focus on creating a robust e-mail authentication system that would prevent spammers from hiding their tracks and thereby evading Internet service providers' (ISPs) anti-spam filters and law enforcement.

The FTC's report analyzed three types of possible registry models, consulted with more than 80 individuals representing more than 50 organizations including consumer groups, e-mail marketers, and anti-spam advocates, and discussed solutions with ISPs and computer scientists. The report concluded that none of the three models could be enforced effectively and may actually result in registered addresses receiving more spam because spammers would use such a registry as a directory of valid e-mail addresses. The FTC noted that the most promising way to reduce spam is to create a sender-authentication standard--technology that can verify that an e-mail message was sent from the address that it claims to be from.

According to the report, "without effective authentication of e-mail, any registry is doomed to fail. With authentication, better CAN-SPAM Act enforcement and better filtering by ISPs may even make a registry unnecessary."

The commission said it would allow the private sector to determine which authentication standard should be employed. If a standard does not emerge, the commission proposed creating a federal advisory committee to encourage the adoption of one. The big ISPs have been arguing for more than a year about how to create such a sender authentication system. But in May, Microsoft agreed to merge its...