FC: Weekly column: Lessig's wager, and Lofgren's new anti-spam bill

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

I'll be speaking at the event via a video link from Georgetown law school. 
Here are the details if you're near Stanford and were thinking of stopping by:
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04680.html

-Declan

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http://news.com.com/2010-1071-998513.html

   A modest proposal to end spam
   By Declan McCullagh
   April 28, 2003, 7:00 AM PT

   WASHINGTON--It's not every day people bet their jobs on the
   effectiveness of a law--let alone an antispam law. Many U.S. states
   have already enacted such e-mail laws, and spam keeps flooding in.

   But that's exactly what Larry Lessig, a Stanford University law professor
   and one of the most prominent liberal voices online, has done. A few
   months ago, Lessig made an unusual wager: If Congress enacts an
   antispam law that offers bounties for the reporting of spammers, and
   the law fails to "substantially reduce the level of spam," he will
   resign from his dream job at a top law school.

   Lessig is either extremely reckless or incredibly confident. He has
   asked me to be the judge of whether such a law proves effective in
   reducing the deluge of unsolicited e-mail that's clogging our
   in-boxes, snarling mail servers and driving Internet service providers
   to distraction. I've accepted.

   At an event Monday to unveil just that kind of antispam bill, Lessig
   will have a chance to put his career where his mouth is. He will join
   U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., to highlight new legislation, which
   goes by the awkward name of "Restrict and Eliminate the Delivery of
   Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Spam Act," or the REDUCE Spam
   Act.

   [...]




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