Junk E-Mail Law Takes Effect in Washington State

The state of Washington’s new junk e-mail law has taken effect, making it
illegal to use false or misleading information when sending an unsolicited,
commercial e-mail.

“Junk e-mail clogs consumers mailboxes with unwanted advertisements for some
very questionable products,” said Washington Attorney General Christine
Gregoire. “It’s not only a major annoyance, it is also very expensive for both
consumers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).”

She said conservative estimates indicate that ISPs spend at least $2 to $3 a
month for each consumer to explain, remove and pursue junk e-mailers. That can
add up to millions of dollars in unnecessary and unwanted costs each month.

The problem of junk e-mail has grown substantially over the past few years. Up
to 80% of the unsolicited e-mail messages sent to Internet users contain some
kind of deceptive information, she said.

Washington’s new law makes it illegal to falsify information about the sender,
to use false or misleading information in the subject line and to use a third
party’s e-mail address without that party’s permission.

The law covers e-mail originating from a computer located in Washington or
sent to a Washington e-mail address. It will not protect e-mail users in other
states, unless the message was sent from a Washington computer.

Victims of illegal junk e-mail can use the new law to recover damages. Anyone
who breaks the law can be required to pay $500 to individual e-mail recipients
and $1,000 to ISPs for each proved violation.

Would-be junk e-mail senders are required to find out which of their intended
recipients live in Washington. Gregoire urged Washington Internet users to
contact their ISPs and ask them to notify senders that they have a Washington
e-mail address.

As a fallback, the attorney general’s office and the Washington State Internet
Service Providers (WAISP) have set up a special registry that senders can use
to identify recipient e-mail addresses.

“This is not a perfect law, but it will start a process for changing the
behavior of those who use the Internet to market their products and services,”
said Gregoire.

The registry, which is a secure site, can be reached through the AG’s home page or directly at http://registry.waisp.org. Senders of e-mail can use this registry as one of the ways to check if an e-mail address belongs to a Washington resident.

Anyone wanting to file a complaint about illegal, unsolicited commercial e-mail received on or after June 11, 1998 should send an e-mail to the attorney
general at junkemail@atg.wa.gov or call 800-551-4636.