On the three days from April 30 through Friday, May 2, 2003,the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) held a “Spam Forum” inWashington, D.C.According to the FTC website, the purpose of this forum was”to address the proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mailand to explore the technical, legal, and financial issuesassociated with it.”While the FTC and other government entities try to figure outhow they can legally address the Spam issue, they are doing sowithout consulting with those of us who run small businessesonline. Of the 97 people who spoke at the forum, the majoritywas technicians and lawyers Bookforum
who represent the ISP’s andAnti-Spam companies. A few of the people even representedlarge bulk email companies.Forum participants could not even agree on a proper definitionof “spam” — yet they propose that they are the best qualifiedto help write the laws that will eliminate spam?My question is this, who represented the small business ownerand the small publishers at the FTC spam forum? No one really.It was not because the small business segment did not haverepresentatives willing to speak on their behalf. In fact,both I-Cop.org and OMPUAC.org — both of whom representsmall online businesses — had petitioned to have theirrepresentatives speak at the forum, but both were turneddown.You can read the list of the people who DID speak at the FTC”Spam Forum” at:http://www.theezine.net/ftc_spam_forum.shtmlShould you honestly believe the anti-spam profiteers had yourinterests in mind when they had the opportunity to speak tothe FTC?Here are some of the anti-spam profiteers who foundrepresentation at the FTC “Spam Forum”:· Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS)· SpamCon Foundation· SpamCop· The Spamhaus Project· Habeas