Internet
Laws
By David Fishman
Over the passed year the US state and federal
houses of Representatives and Congress have been filled with
what I will call Anti – online bills. Technology and
marketing dollars along with political influence over the
passed year has prompted law makers to create various State
and Federal regulations in the hope that it will begin to
shape the way commerce is completed by online advertisers
and consumers alike.
https://www.lynxtrack.com/signup.php
A few of the most important and perhaps
inhibiting laws are:
“ A US House subcommittee on Thursday (17
May) approved what would be the first federal law to
specifically target Internet spyware. The SPY Act, for
"Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass," would
oblige companies and individuals to conspicuously warn
consumers before giving them a program capable of
automatically transmitting information gathered from a
user's computer. Though the bill carries no criminal
penalties, and doesn't allows users to sue spyware
merchants, anyone in the US caught uploading such a program
without obtaining the consumer's consent could face civil
prosecution by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).” This
does not carry much weight, however there are other State
laws that have been put on the books and challenged that
come with much more meatier punishments for violators. For
example: the law that was written, although never adopted, in
the State of Utah had jail time and very hefty fines
associated with its violations.
There are other such laws, like the most well known Can
Spam Act, which is a direct result of the Virginia law
which was recently challenged. “ Virginia's anti-spam
statute--the first in the country to make spamming a
felony--is constitutional, a trial court judge ruled Aug.
11, freeing prosecutors to proceed against three defendants
accused of being prolific spammers in the key Internet
traffic state of Virginia. Commonwealth of Virginia v.
Jaynes, 2004 ILRWeb (P&F) 2423 [Va Cir Ct, 2004]. “
The ruling is significant because it is the
first court challenge to the Virginia law. The law applies
to any e-mail that passes through Virginia-based service
providers, such as the Dulles-based America Online, Inc.,
meaning the physical address of spammers is irrelevant in
enforcing the law. Some 36 states have anti-spam laws on the
books, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures, but almost all are civil, not criminal.
These laws have prompted networks and
advertisers alike to continually update their codes of
conduct and rules for publishers and affiliates. For example
one of the largest affiliate networks in the online space
recently adjusted it rules to include language such as:
“….the updated Publisher Code of Conduct now specifically
addresses inappropriate "forced clicks" and "non end-user
initiated events". This is obviously a clear way to stop
fraud, to inhibit advertisers with the ability to generate
income through affiliate networks without contacting a
customer directly, but it is also a way for a network to
begin to comply with laws such as those mentioned above.
It is impossible for these laws to be
completely enforced. It would take too high an expense to
monitor and an outrageous amount of funding to prosecute.
However, as we have seen there will be companies singled out
as examples in the hope that by prosecuting a few it will
deter the rest.
The only other solution available to an
affiliate company is to withhold commissions so that it
shows it will not sanction activity that, while not illegal,
is on the brink of fraud and slowly stepping over the bounds
of ethical business practices. It is important that we work
as a community to create laws that allow for online commerce
to grow positively, yet we do not inhibit our growth because
we are scared of consumer reaction. For sure this will be a
tough job to figure out how to be on the cutting edge of
business strategy and yet balance ethics, morality and
justice while still focusing on marketing and business
goals.
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3347941
http://www.spamlaws.com/state/va.html
David Fishman
dfishman@ileadmedia.com
