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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While the Federal Trade Commission investigates setting up a national do-not-spam registry, new private sites are claiming to keep users spam-free now--but they lack the force of law.

The recently enacted CAN-SPAM law exhorts the FTC to consider the feasibility of a national, government-sponsored do-not-spam registry similar to its recent Do Not Call Registry restricting telephone solicitations. Last week the agency issued a formal request for information to vendors interested in helping create a national do-not-spam registry. The FTC will present a summary of its research to lawmakers in mid-June.

Meanwhile, the FTC issued a warning earlier in February about a private do-not-spam registry that offered to do the same job. That site, unsub.us, has apparently shut down. But another site appears to have have taken its place: Thedonotspamregistry.com claims that registrants, by handing over their e-mail and IP addresses, will be kept spam-free.

It's Not the Same

But such a registry "doesn't work without the one missing element: the force and the might of law behind it," says Rodney Joffe, founder and president of the CenterGate Research Group, a company that works on computer infrastructure and security.

Thedonotspamregistry.com isn't sponsored by the government and lacks the force of law, according to an FTC representative. "We don't endorse any do-not-spam registries," the FTC spokesperson says.

The FTC's antispam plan isn't due until mid-September, and the agency warns that registering now with sites that claim to offer antispam registration could actually increase the amount of e-mail in your in-box.

In the FTC's warning about unsub.us, the agency says sites offering to eliminate spam could be intended to "trick consumers into disclosing their e-mail address or other sensitive personal information." The FTC also cautions that some Web sites have used the collected information to commit identity theft.

According to thedonotspamregistry.com's site, "registering your e-mail address will not guarantee that all spam will cease, but it should significantly reduce the number of spam messages you receive."

Few Guarantees

Glenn Weissman, a spokesperson for the New Jersey-based DNSR Group, which created thedonotspamregistry.com, says the site compiles e-mail addresses of people who do not want to receive unsolicited commercial e-mail.

"We have list owners and list managers and e-mail list service bureaus that subscribe to our service," Weissman says. "We wash their database against our list every month. They're not sending any unsolicited mail to people who don't want it."

But private companies are under no obligation to cease their spamming efforts.

"The fact is that the majority of spammers wouldn't even think about checking with a do-not-spam registry, so it's not going to be very effective," says Jason Catlett, president of Junkbusters, a Web site that advocates against unwanted marketing.

According to thedonotspamregistry.com's privacy policy, e-mail addresses entrusted to the company are not compiled, stored, or sold to consumer marketing lists.

Weissman says the recent FTC warning against bogus do-not-spam registries won't affect his business.

"We're not spammers," Weissman says. "We don't actually e-mail, we're just compiling a database of people who don't want to receive unsolicited e-mail."

The FTC advises consumers not to submit e-mail or personal information to "any site claiming to be a 'National Do Not E-Mail Registry.'" The best way to avoid scams is to refrain from volunteering personal information to anyone you don't know, the agency says.