We Hate Spam, Congress Says. Except From Us.

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 13:46:03 -0500
From: tim finin <finin () cs umbc edu>
Subject: We Hate Spam, Congress Says. Except From Us.
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>

We Hate Spam, Congress Says. Except From Us.
By JENNIFER 8. LEE, NY Times, December 27, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/28/politics/28EMAI.html?hp

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 -- Even as Congress was unanimously approving a
law aimed at reducing the flow of junk e-mail, members were sending
out hundreds of thousands of unsolicited messages to constituents.

The spasm of activity is aimed at attracting voluntary subscribers to
the lawmakers' e-mail lists, which would not be subject to House rules
that normally impose a 90-day blackout before an election for
taxpayer-supported Congressional mass communications.

In September, the House Administration Committee voted, 5 to 3, along
party lines to allow e-mail messages to the subscribers to be sent in
the blackout period, but maintained the ban on free postal mail from
House members to voters. The policy change affected only House rules
and was not part of the junk e-mail legislation.

At least 40 House members have bought or agreed to buy e-mail address
lists from at least four vendors. The lists, which each have tens of
thousands of addresses, are generally created by a process called
e-mail appending, taking voter registration files from a member's
district. The next step is to cross match them with large databases of
names and e-mail addresses assembled by consumer data companies like
Equifax, which has a database of more than 75 million e-mail
addresses. E-mail addresses can usually be found for 10 percent to 20
percent of the voter file.

...

The new policy is fueling an e-mail arms race. Democrats say that the
new policy, which was crafted by the Republicans who control the
House, took them somewhat by surprise, but they are catching up.


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