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Trade Commission wants authority to take on spammers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asked the US Congress Wednesday for expanded authority to combat spam, or unsolicited e-mail advertisements that some claim are choking the Internet.

The FTC already investigates spam if it involves fraud, the agency said it is seeking authority for broader cooperation with foreign investigators and the ability to conduct secret probes into spammers.

The proposal was delivered to committees of the Senate and House of Representatives by FTC Chairman Timothy Muris.

One change proposed by the FTC would allow the agency to more easily share information with foreign law enforcement agencies, because much of the spam is sent without regard to borders, Muris said.

"The FTC's law enforcement experience shows that the path from a fraudulent spammer to a consumer's in-box frequently crosses at least one international border and often several," he said.

Additionally, the FTC proposal said that hackers and spammers who take over someone else's Internet account or e-mail should not be afforded the same privacy protection as other users.

Muris also said the FTC should be allowed to keep its probe of spammers confidential to keep the target of the probe from changing tactics.

"The FTC's experience is that when fraud targets are given notice of FTC investigations they often destroy documents or secrete assets," Muris said.

But Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said it would be wrong to conduct secret probes and end the privacy protection that exists for the Internet.

"Arguments for denying notice to the target of an investigation could too easily be made with respect to targets in the US," Rotenberg testified.

"The proposed changes here not only set a bad precedent but would also send a bad message to consumer protection agencies in other countries about the conduct of investigative actions by democratic governments."

The FTC further asked that it be able to obtain information from Internet service providers (ISPs) about possible spam cases, noting that courts have ruled the amount of information ISPs can turn over is limited.

Spam is believed to account for about half of all e-mail traffic and is seen as a growing threat to confidence of the Internet.

Legislators and regulators have been seeking ways to crack down on spam, and a number of lawsuits have been filed seeking to halt unwanted e-mails.

Spam is seen as an annoyance to individual users, but a major cost to many companies, which collectively spend billions of dollars in an effort to keep out the unsolicited e-mails that could choke their networks.

Additionally, authorities and Internet companies are concerned that the junk e-mails for penis enlargement or breast enhancement, or those directing users to porn sites, can be fraudulent or turn users away from the Web.
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