CAUCE NEWS, Volume 2, Special Issue

[John Levine <]

			      CAUCE NEWS
			  Volume 2, Special issue
			      May, 1998

In this issue:

* A Call to Action

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PRO-MARKETING "SPAM" BILL ROCKETS THROUGH CONGRESS;
CAUCE MEMBERS URGED TO MAKE IMMEDIATE CALLS TO WASHINGTON!

This is an urgent message being sent to all CAUCE members. Opponents of
unsolicited commercial email (a/k/a "SPAM") are facing a potentially
disastrous development on Capitol Hill and urgent action is required!


PRO-SPAM BILL CLOSE TO BECOMING LAW!
====================================

As you may be aware, in the dark of the night on May 12, Senators
Murkowski and Torricelli offered an amendment to a bill dealing with the
long distance industry. This amendment threatens to legalize and
legitimize the sending of junk email. The entire bill -- including the
new junk email language -- was passed by the full Senate and sent to the
House of Representatives. Identical language to the Murkowski-Torricelli
amendment was introduced late last week by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), the
Chairman of the Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection
Subcommitee of the House Commerce Committee -- who, by the way, will
decide what action, if any, will be taken on the Smith Bill. Rep. Tauzin
has previously offered pro-marketing legislation on spam (see
<http://www.cauce.org/why.html> for details).

This new language by Murkowski and Torricelli is extremely similar to
pro-spam language previously offered by Sen. Torricelli... which has
already been favored by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and other
large marketing organizations. As currently written, this legislation
would permit marketers to send out unlimited quantites of junk email as
long as they refrain from putting fake address information in their
email, and as long as they have a means of honoring remove requests. Any
violations would only be enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission or
by ISPs -- not users.

That is why CAUCE has proposed the following changes to the bills:

     *    Let users enforce the law... don't depend on government
          bureaucracies to enforce it.

     *    Assure that states can make their own laws on spam.

     *    Allow businesses, ISPs, and domain name holders to opt-out
          their whole domain preemptively.

Senators Murkowski and Torricelli and Rep. Tauzin know that their
constituents want action on spam, but this bill reflects the interests of
marketers, not users.  They need to hear from you -- the users who are
their consituents -- now.


ACTION POSSIBLE THIS WEEK - CALL CONGRESS  * N O W * !!
=======================================================

CAUCE needs every member to do two things:

1. Call your Representative and Senators *IMMEDIATELY*. Tell them:

     *    You are a member of CAUCE and remain deeply concerned
          about junk email.

     *    You strongly support H.R.1748, and you believe that S.1618
          and its counterpart language in H.R.3888 does not address
          the concernes of users.

     *    You support CAUCE's proposed changes to S.1618/H.R.3888.

         (If they need any more information, send them to our website.)

If you know your Representative's and Senators' names, call them at:
202-224-3121. If you're not sure who your representative is, go to the
House of Representatives web site <http://www.house.gov/writerep/> and
look it up from your zip code. Senate information is available at
<http://www.senate.gov/senator/state.html>. Everyone in Congress can be
reached via the phone number above.


2. Call Congressman Tauzin's office and tell him:

     *    You are a member of CAUCE and a strong supporter of
          Rep. Smith's H.R.1748.

     *    You want his subcommittee to hold hearings on *ALL* the
          proposed "anti-spam" legislation -- especially H.R.1748.

     *    You want his subcommittee to amend H.R.3888 to include
          CAUCE's proposed changes.

         (If they need any more information, send them to our website.)

Congressman Tauzin can be reached at voice: 202-225-4031, fax:
202-225-0563. If those numbers don't work, or if the lines are busy, you
can contact his subcommittee at directly at: 202-225-2927.


NO TIME TO LOSE!
================

We are at a critical juncture in the fight against spam. The few moments
you spend on the phone today can help keep your email flowing tomorrow!
If you need more information about why CAUCE opposes the bill, please see
our detailed analysis at the CAUCE web site <http://www.cauce.org>.

Thank you!

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For other questions or comments about this message, contact John
Levine johnl@localhost.

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