Quite frankly spam is a problem for the Internet Service Providers to solve, not the government. Do you see the government providing the private sector with e-mail service? No. So the government should not regulate spam.

There are software solutions to rid of spam and those Internet Service Providers which come up with the best ways to kill spam will profit. Spam is NOT something the government needs to waste tax payer dollars trying to regulate.

If the US government wants to fight junk mail they should begin with all the junk mail sent via the US Postal Service. Every few years postal rates go up and everyone keeps getting more and more unsolicited junk mail. Why can't the government put an end to real junk mail instead of wanting to poke its nose into spam?

The spam problem is gradually going to take care of itself as innovators develop software to filter out and stop spam and as Internet Service Providers respond to user frustration by acting to block spam. Hence there is no reason for the government, which will not even outlaw real junk mail delievered by the US Postal Service, to get involved with the spam wars.

Besides, who do you think would have to pay for the government to regulate spam? This high cost would surely be passed on to the consumer via higher and higher taxes. The only reason the government wants to regulate spam is to have an excuse for taxing the usage of the Internet.

I say let the government give EVERYONE a free e-mail account and 250MB free space on the Internet before it regulates any usage of the Internet. At least then if users are taxed it would go to paying for that which the government should already be providing its citizens.

Sincerely,
Terry Lynch
Date: 30 April, 2003

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