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April 30, 2003
Virginia Puts the Smackdown on Spammers
Washington Post: Virginia Blocks Bulk E-Mailers
Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) traveled to the Dulles headquarters of America Online, the world's largest Internet service provider, to ceremonially sign recently enacted legislation that establishes five-year prison terms and other criminal penalties against chronic, large-scale senders.Yay! Having grown up in Virginia this makes me proud. This is significant for a few reasons:
1) Don't confuse this measure with many of the existing anti-spam laws, which only provide recourse to recoup expenses spam caused in civil court. This new bill makes spam a crime, punishable by a state-funded vacation in the lovely Virginia Penitentiary.
2) It's significant that it's Virginia making this law. Both AOL and MCI are based in northern Virginia, outside of Washington, DC. You know AOL, of course, and the number of sunscribers they have. MCI (previously MCI, then Worldcom, now MCI again) is also a large ISP, but more importantly owns UUNet, a major backbone provider. A lot of Internet traffic flows through those two providers, who both may be subject to the new law and in a good position to enforce it.
3) It's significant that it's Gov. Mark Warner putting this into action. Warner is a high-tech governor; he was co-founder of Columbia Capital, a northern Virginia VC outfit. He "gets it."
Posted April 30, 2003 06:20 AM