California has joined Great Britain in banning spam, but the penalties are much harsher: fines of up to $1 million for each incident.
Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation Tuesday that targets the companies that package and send spam and the companies whose products and services are being advertised.
Violators would be subject to a fine of $1,000 for each unsolicited message and up to $1 million for blitz campaigns.
"There are no loopholes, no way of getting around it," said the bill's author, Democrat state Sen. Kevin Murray.
Actually, there is. The law covers unsolicited "commercial" e-mail sent or received in the state, so unfortunately it apparently won't apply to Davis, Murray or other pols. (Politicians likewise exempted themselves from the federal Do Not Call register. Do as they say, not as they do.)
The measure might please consumers, but it sounds like another reason for companies to take their jobs and flee the rabidly anti-business state. What a great excuse to export more work to China.
Some lawmakers worried about just that, the Associated Press reported today. How could California enforce the law against foreign companies?
Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, admitted that it "may be more difficult, depending on distance and the circumstances, to collect. But that doesn't mean we don't go after the guy in Beijing." Uh huh.
"California is sending a clear message to Internet spammers: we will not allow you to litter the information superhighway with e-mail trash," Davis said in a statement.
Too bad there isn't a law that fines Gray Davis $1 million every time he litters the information superhighway with his trash. His "cures" for the disasters he created in California are more bogus than any e-mails touting "anti-aging" creams or "penis enlargers."
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
California Governor's Race
Editor's note:
Clooney, Streisand, Hollywood Exposed – Click Here Now!
Print Page 
Forward Page 
