James Coates, in his Nov. 9 “Binary Beat” column (Business), is rightfully concerned about governmental regulation of the Internet, but he trivializes the very real problem of unsolicited bulk e-mail (“spam”).
A spammer who sends millions of junk e-mail messages per day at little or no cost needs only a minuscule response rate to make a profit. “Just delete it” isn’t a satisfactory solution for consumers faced with hundreds or thousands of junk e-mail messages each day.
As Coates noted, both Congress and the Federal Trade Commission are investigating the problem, but most of the proposed solutions would do little to stem the tide of junk e-mail. Merely regulating the content of e-mail solicitations instead of banning them entirely would reduce the stigma currently attached to spam, making the problem worse than it already is. The Internet community is hard at work on technological solutions to the problem, but the spammers always seem to be one step ahead.
Few people welcome governmental regulation of the Internet, especially in light of the Communications Decency Act and the U.S. government’s misguided encryption policy. A bad law, particularly one that is aimed at a rapidly moving target, can be worse than no law at all. But in the case of spam, thoughtfully crafted regulation may well be the only effective solution.
