It’s unanimous -- the Do-Not-Email Registry is a bad idea.

Last August, I wrote about the concept of a national Do-Not-Email  (DNE) Registry and what an absolutely horrible concept it was. Since then, the DNE Registry has unfortunately gained a slight bit of momentum by virtue of being included in The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM Act of 2003). The Act does not exactly authorize one, but does require the FTC -- no later than six months after the enactment date -- to submit a report to Congress regarding the establishment of a national marketing DNE registry. The FTC, in turn, asked for everyone’s comments on the DNE and more. The deadline for submitting them was this past Tuesday.

Now I certainly wouldn’t think of speaking for the FTC, or try to predict what will be inside its report to Congress, but the agency has already been extremely outspoken on the subject. To sum up: the FTC hates it. It seems the commission is in excellent company, too. Other groups who either officially or unofficially have been critical of the DNE Registry include, but are not limited to:

• TrustE, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Email Service Provider Coalition
• The Direct Marketing Association, National Association of Realtors
• The Council for Marketing & Opinion Research, Visa U.S.A. Inc.
• The Information Technology Association of America, Newspaper Association of America, American Society of Association Executives

The list goes on. I expect Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Nation Rifle Association and Trekies would oppose it as well if anyone would bother to ask them. All kidding aside, the sheer mass of the united organizations and their collective memberships who oppose the DNE Registry is compelling and, arguably, a historic event. When was the last time you saw such far-reaching solidarity on any issue?

So, given this, is the DNE Registry likely to go away? Absolutely not. Bad laws happen. Don’t forget that this is an election year and the phrase “do not spam” makes for a wonderful sound bite.

Damn the details -- a vote is a vote!

The only thing, in my humble opinion, that will lock the DNE Registry in the vault is a better alternative. So to those of you working on authenticated senders: please disconnect the phones and tell me where to send the pots of coffee.

As president and chief operating officer of NetCreations/PostMasterDirect, Michael Mayor is an 18-year veteran of direct marketing and a recognized pioneer of email marketing. Mayor joined NetCreation's as one of the company's first employees in 1998, and played a key role in helping to build the largest email list management company in the industry today. He has also pioneered many of the email marketing industry's standards and best practices. Mayor is a leading advocate of privacy and is a frequent speaker at industry functions. Mayor is also the Chairman for the Interactive Advertising Bureau's Email Committee.