Last week's report from Federal Trade Commission shows it is looking for spam solutions.
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its comments on the proposed Do-Not-Email Registry. This 60-page document, "National Do Not Email Registry -- A Report to Congress" is a comprehensive effectiveness analysis on the very controversial anti-spam proposition as required by the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act).
To no one's surprise, the FTC stated in painstaking detail the many reasons why the concept simply won't work, or at least not yet.
The FTC was extremely well prepared to make such comments. The document outlined a five-pronged information gathering process which comprised:
- Issuing a request for information from businesses with the technological skill to build such a registry.
- Interviewing 80 individuals from consumer groups, ISPs, email marketers (I was fortunate enough to be one of them), law enforcement, private attorneys and technologists.
- Soliciting comments from the general public.
- Requiring seven ISPs to comment.
- Enlisting the help of several well-respected computer scientists.
What the document doesn't mention is that the FTC has really been listening to all sides for well over a year now. They began by holding their ground-breaking spam forum last June, and they have had a virtual open door since. If there was a seminar on spam to which the FTC was invited to participate but refused, I am not aware of it. In fact, I personally took part on four panels, all of which had a representative of the FTC on it.
As recently as one week ago, FTC director Howard Beales spoke at the IAPP/TRUSTe Privacy Futures event in San Francisco, and reaffirmed how important this fight is to the commission -- ranking it as their top priority. In short, if someone had an opinion on the DNE Registry and wanted the FTC to hear it, its staff members were extremely accessible and willing to listen, despite their limited resources.
This sense that the FTC was working tirelessly to get to the bottom of the viability of the DNE Registry became so reassuring to me, a staunch opponent of the registry, that by the time of last week's announcement, I was willing to live with whatever the FTC decided because I had developed a true respect for their staff and methodology. If they had found a way to make it work, I would have thrown my support fully behind it because I had grown to know the commission as a group of extremely capable, thorough and fair people working toward the common goal of stopping spam.
One other thing notched them up in my book -- they weren't simply looking for ammo to blast the concept out of the water, they were exploring other alternatives in the process. Hence their announcement last week that gave a thumbs down to the DNE with one hand but pointed toward authentication with the other.
Many of those who have been close to the situation may say the FTC simply confirmed the obvious -- that the DNE has too many holes. Step back a few paces and you'll discover they actually accomplished the nearly impossible. They resisted a full-on political blitz coming off the heels of the do-not-call registry touchdown, as well as the deafening cries from the general public for an immediate anti-spam solution, and simply let unbiased research prevail.
Even though most of us knew the DNE Registry was a bad idea, the FTC's 60 pages do not represent an exercise in futility by any means. Looking for a solution means you must thoroughly investigate every possibility and then move on until you find the right option. The FTC's hard work puts us back on track and that much closer to finding a way to stop spam and we all owe them our thanks for such an important accomplishment. We are lucky to have such a group of dedicated professionals working on this complex problem in cooperation with consumers and the private sector. Line one of the guide to the Federal Trade Commission states: "The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) works to ensure that the nation's markets are vigorous, efficient and free of restrictions that harm consumers."
They certainly do -- and we thank them for it.
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 pioneered many of the email marketing industry's standards and best practices. Mayor is a leading advocate of privacy, is a frequent speaker at industry functions, and is chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau's email committee.