A proposed state law to let e-mailers join a no-spam list similar to no-call lists imposed on telemarketers would actually backfire, leaving would-be spammers a ready-made library of addresses to hit, some Internet companies told state lawmakers this week.
The bill was presented after state Attorney General Hardy Myers pressed for it. Over 20 states have similar opt-out legislation on the books. Myers - who guesstimated that between 10 and 30 percent of all e-mail is spam - based his idea on Oregon's "no call" list, the Associated Press said, which bans telemarketers from cold-calling anyone on that list.
But inboxcop.com's John Gotts told lawmakers the spam slammers wouldn't take very long to figure out how to exploit a similar no-spam list to just spam away. "What you'll do is create a list of e-mail addresses for spammers to use," because it's almost impossible to catch violators, he said.
Gotts said it costs U.S. businesses between $9 billion and $15 billion a year to can the spam, in good part because while anti-spam software improves, so does the spammer's art itself.
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