Gates Sends Letter on Spam to Congress

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As momentum builds on Capital Hill for national junk e-mail standards and
legislation, Bill Gates has sent a letter outlining Microsoft’s position of how the spam crisis should be handled.

“Microsoft firmly believes that spam can be dramatically reduced, and that
the solution rests squarely on the shoulders of industry and government.
There is no silver-bullet solution to the problem. Rather, we believe that
fully addressing this problem for the long-run requires a coordinated,
multi-faceted approach that includes technology, industry self-regulation,
effective legislation, and targeted enforcement against the most egregious
spammers,” Gates wrote in his letter — a copy of which was obtained
by internetnews.com.

Microsoft’s Founder and Chairman sent the letter Wednesday addressed to Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Ernest Hollings (D-SC). The letter arrives as Senate hearings on spam get underway on Wednesday and a flurry of lobbyists jockey for position in Washington ahead of anti-spam legislation that two Internet insiders say is practically a done
deal.

“There is so much fervor on this issue, right now. There is no question the
FTC will set some rules and national anti-spam legislation will likely pass
and set guidelines between what is pornographic and fraudulent versus
permission-based, opt-in e-mail,” said Al DiGuido, CEO of BigFoot
Interactive, a full-service e-mail communications company.

“We will probably have legislation passed this year. ISPs spend an enormous
amount to block spam and anything that reduces spam and aggravation for
ISPs and customers would be a good thing,” said Stewart Baker, general
counsel for the United States Internet Service Provider Association, or
USISPA, a Washington-based association representing ISPs nationwide.

DiGuido said a number of companies, lobbyists and legislators are coming
forward with a variety of different plans for new anti-spam laws, but he
isn’t certain they will stop the tide of spam.

“Will anti-spam legislation end spam? The answer is no, but it is a step in
the right direction,” DiGuido said, adding that many spammers will move
their servers overseas. There also are questions how the government would
enforce any laws that are passed, and how penalties or fines would be
administered.

“Anti-spam legislation by itself is going to be very helpful, but isn’t
going to solve the problem, largely because spammers are not concerned with
the law,” Baker says.

Bill Gates in his letter to Congress advocates the use of filtering
technology, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between legitimate
e-mail, and unwanted spam.

“The industry is building better filters every day, and is investing heavily
in research and development to open the door to greater innovation. We need
filtering technologies that are easier for consumers to use, and more
effective at determining which email messages are spam and which are desired
communications. This differentiation will greatly reduce the risk of falsely
misidentifying legitimate email as spam,” Gates wrote.

But DiGuido’s says his biggest concern is that the legislation may go too
far, and hurt legitimate e-mail marketers.

“We don’t want permission-based marketing getting mixed up with the
pornographic and fraudulent e-mailers. A distinction needs to be made
between the two,” DiGuido said.

But drawing the line between what is an legitimate and illegitimate e-mail
is blurry, and Gates in his letter suggests an e-mail certification system
is needed.

“We support the establishment of an independent trust authority or
authorities around the globe that could spearhead industry best practices,
and then serve as an ongoing resource for email certification and customer
dispute resolution. In short, these authorities could provide mechanisms to
identify legitimate email, making it easier for consumers and businesses to
distinguish wanted mail from unwanted mail. Of course, any technology
designed to establish the identity of legitimate commercial firms and
associate them with a trusted sender ‘seal’ should be based on open
standards and developed with broad input from affected industries,” Gates
wrote in his letter to Congress.

DiGuido said there is momentum to come up with a system that would have
reputable marketers pay a nominal fee per message to ISPs for messages that
would reach their customers. At the same time, spammers would not likely be
willing to pay the fee, and their messages could be clearly blocked or
filtered.

However, the USISPA’s Baker said ISPs are not advocating for such a system.

“We have not been pressing for solutions that have marketers pay ISPs for
sending legitimate messages,” Baker says.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is pushing for the .ADV designation to be
attached to any advertising message, but delineating what is and isn’t
advertising may not be simple.

Microsoft’s perspective on anti-spam legislation comes as Senators Conrad
Burns (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are introducing anti-spam
legislation. Another junk e-mail is expected in the House from
Representatives Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.)
to soon be introduced. A compromise of the two bills is ultimately likely to
resemble an anti-spam law, which experts say will be passed before the end
of this year.