Congress OKs anti-spam bill

from CNN/Money bq. Congress approved a bill Monday outlawing some of the most annoying forms of junk e-mail and creating a "do not spam" registry. bq. By a voice vote, the House approved the bill containing jail time and multimillion-dollar fines for online marketers who flood e-mail inboxes with pornography and get-rich-quick schemes. bq. The measure, which cleared the Senate last month, now goes to the White House where President Bush is expected to sign it into law by the end of the year. bq. "For the first time during the Internet era, American consumers will have the ability to say no to spam," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican, said in a statement. bq. "What's more, parents will be able to breath easier knowing that they have the ability to prevent pornographic spam from reaching defenseless, unsuspecting children," he said. This is a start - it will not in any way limit the ammount of spam that you recieve since most of it comes from two sources beyond the control of the US Government. Most of the SPAM is sent from outside the USA. A good chunk of the rest (and this number will jump on December 26th) comes from clueless people whose computers have been infected with viruses that don't appear to be doing anything but are using the computers resources to serve as a relay point for SPAM. December 26th is the day that all the new holiday gifts will be plugged in, turned on and their initial install (without the latest patches) will be connected to broadband internet. Their owners will be so enthralled with the new experience that they will click on all sorts of 'fun' websites, open attachments that their friends sent to them and send and recieve eCards with abandon. Sigh... Keeps people like me in business anyway