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WASHINGTON -- Trying to drum up support for his antispam legislation, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has released survey results showing 74 percent of U.S. Internet users want a national do-not-spam registry.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, introduced his Stop Pornography and Abusive Marketing Act in June. The bill includes a national do-not-spam registry, similar to the national do-not-call list that 28 million U.S. residents have signed up for since late June. But Schumer's bill has not received a hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and staff at the Federal Trade Commission have expressed concerns that a do-not-spam list would be tougher to administer than the telemarketing list.

Another antispam bill, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, may get a vote on the Senate floor before summer recess begins August 4, Schumer says. If the Senate does not consider his legislation, Schumer promises to amend CAN-SPAM with a do-not-spam registry clause.

"I have good support for an amendment," Schumer says. "We have lots of different people supporting it, and best, the American public supports it. Usually, that works around here."

Survey Findings

Schumer and Vincent Schiavone, president and chief executive officer of the ePrivacy Group, released on Wednesday the results of a survey Schiavone's company and the Ponemon Institute conducted in mid-July. The Web-based survey of 1093 U.S. Internet users finds 74 percent support a national do-not-spam list, 79 percent agree that unwanted e-mail should be banned or limited by law, and 59 percent say spammers should be punished.

"The support for a federal no-spam list is strong enough; I don't think the public is going to be sympathetic to claims it's hard to do," Schumer says. "Americans want a solution to the spam plague that has teeth -- they don't want halfway measures. To my colleagues in the Senate, some of whom are lukewarm to our proposal, I say, 'Pay attention, the American public is making its views known.'"

FTC staffers have argued that a do-not-spam list would be difficult to track because of the sheer number of e-mail addresses, which also change frequently. FTC staffers also question whether a national do-not-spam list could be secured, fearing spammers could use it to send more unwanted e-mail. But Schumer says his staff and the FTC are working through that concern. An FTC spokesperson wasn't immediately available for comment.

Registry Opposed

On Monday, the Direct Marketing Association issued an alert asking its members to convince Schumer that a do-not-spam list is the wrong tactic to fight spam. The group argues that an e-mail registry would only hurt legitimate e-mail marketers who obey the rules, while rogue spammers would continue sending spam.

A do-not-spam registry would not lower spam volumes because legitimate marketers who would honor the list are not responsible for most spam, says Louis Mastria, director of public and international affairs for the association.

"The reality is a do-not-e-mail list would go after legitimate marketers who have a product to market," Mastria says. "The spammers won't pay any attention to it."

Mastria's group supports the CAN-SPAM legislation. "(CAN-SPAM) would go a long way toward making spammers suffer if they spam," he says. "The majority of spam ... is often offensive, it's often irresponsible, and it's often fraudulent."

CAN-SPAM and the leading House bill on spam, the Reduction in Distribution of Spam Act of 2003, do not include do-not-spam lists or let individual e-mail users sue spammers. Sponsors of those bills argue that private lawsuits would be a boon for lawyers but do little to identify and stop spammers. Both bills let ISPs sue spammers.

But Schumer argues that individual e-mail users should have the right to sue spammers. According to the ePrivacy/Ponemon survey, 39 percent of respondents spend more than 30 minutes a day dealing with unwanted e-mail, and another 36 percent spend between 10 and 30 minutes. Asked how spammers should be punished, 80 percent answer "consumer lawsuits," while only 43 percent also approve of ISP lawsuits. Seventy percent approve of punishment by a federal authority, second only to consumer lawsuits.

Spam Tolerance, Too

The survey also has some surprising findings, Schiavone says. Eighty-seven percent of respondents say it is okay to get e-mail solicitations about customer-service topics, and 71 percent agree it is acceptable for a company to send unsolicited e-mail if they have an offline business relationship.

Asked if they ever opt out of unwanted e-mail, 37 percent say no, and 34 percent say yes. Of those who say no, 40 percent say they don't opt out because they doubt it would be honored; another 38 percent say they tried but were unsuccessful.

Forty-seven percent of respondents say they would be more confident about an opt-out procedure if a "trusted, independent authority" verifies the request. That is basically what a do-not-spam list would do, Schiavone says.

Schiavone, whose company has in the past raised questions about how such a list would work, said Wednesday he supports the idea.

"We do not see any technical reason not to have a do-not-spam list," he says. "Securing a list of 100 million names is not difficult to do from a security and technical point of view. We do billions of dollars of transactions electronically in this country, and a lot of that information is kept secure."

A do-not-spam list must be administered differently from a do-not-call list, he says. For example, the FTC might have to take responsibility for scrubbing e-mail addresses off marketers' list, instead of releasing the list to potential spammers.

"We also think it's an important step in the correct direction of helping the consumer get control of the in-box," Schiavone says. "It does add accountability to e-mail."

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