Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 117.djvu/2719

 117 STAT. 2700

PUBLIC LAW 108–187—DEC. 16, 2003

institutions can handle without further investment in infrastructure. (7) Many senders of unsolicited commercial electronic mail purposefully disguise the source of such mail. (8) Many senders of unsolicited commercial electronic mail purposefully include misleading information in the messages’ subject lines in order to induce the recipients to view the messages. (9) While some senders of commercial electronic mail messages provide simple and reliable ways for recipients to reject (or ‘‘opt-out’’ of) receipt of commercial electronic mail from such senders in the future, other senders provide no such ‘‘opt-out’’ mechanism, or refuse to honor the requests of recipients not to receive electronic mail from such senders in the future, or both. (10) Many senders of bulk unsolicited commercial electronic mail use computer programs to gather large numbers of electronic mail addresses on an automated basis from Internet websites or online services where users must post their addresses in order to make full use of the website or service. (11) Many States have enacted legislation intended to regulate or reduce unsolicited commercial electronic mail, but these statutes impose different standards and requirements. As a result, they do not appear to have been successful in addressing the problems associated with unsolicited commercial electronic mail, in part because, since an electronic mail address does not specify a geographic location, it can be extremely difficult for law-abiding businesses to know with which of these disparate statutes they are required to comply. (12) The problems associated with the rapid growth and abuse of unsolicited commercial electronic mail cannot be solved by Federal legislation alone. The development and adoption of technological approaches and the pursuit of cooperative efforts with other countries will be necessary as well. (b) CONGRESSIONAL DETERMINATION OF PUBLIC POLICY.—On the basis of the findings in subsection (a), the Congress determines that— (1) there is a substantial government interest in regulation of commercial electronic mail on a nationwide basis; (2) senders of commercial electronic mail should not mislead recipients as to the source or content of such mail; and (3) recipients of commercial electronic mail have a right to decline to receive additional commercial electronic mail from the same source. 15 USC 7702.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act: (1) AFFIRMATIVE CONSENT.—The term ‘‘affirmative consent’’, when used with respect to a commercial electronic mail message, means that— (A) the recipient expressly consented to receive the message, either in response to a clear and conspicuous request for such consent or at the recipient’s own initiative; and (B) if the message is from a party other than the party to which the recipient communicated such consent, the recipient was given clear and conspicuous notice at

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