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Georgia Governor Unveils Anti-Spam Plan
by Chloe Albanesius
Georgia may become the next state to enact a tough law against unsolicited commercial e-mail under a proposal unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Sonny Perdue. The Republican governor traveled to the Atlanta headquarters of the Internet service provider (ISPs) EarthLink to outline his plan.
The goal "is to hold accountable those who abuse the Internet and harass our citizens with fraudulent, misleading and unwanted commercial e-mail," Perdue said in a statement. "I urge the general assembly to pass the [legislation] so that Georgians can once again check their e-mail without having to wade through a cesspool of spam."
The proposal would make sending e-mail a felony if the spammers send more than 10,000 messages in 24 hours, if they get more than $1,000 from responses to any one message or more than $50,000 from messages to one ISP, or if they knowingly use minors to help transmit spam.
"The governor's initiative gives EarthLink and other businesses throughout Georgia an important new tool for shutting down rogue, spam e-mailers," said Garry Betty, president and CEO of EarthLink, which has pledged to help the state catch spammers. "Internet protection proposals like Governor Perdue's are a key component in fighting online fraud and ... cyber criminals."
The plan would enable ISPs like Earthlink to bring charges against spammers for fraudulent and deceptive e-mails. It follows the lead of several other states, including Virginia and New Jersey, that have enacted anti-spam laws to make certain actions felonies.
California Bill Targets File-Sharing Firms
A California state senator introduced a bill Friday that would punish companies that sell, advertise or distribute software that enable users to illegally disseminate music or movies online.
Under the bill, S.B. 96, sellers, advertisers or distributors would be liable if they fail to "exercise reasonable care" in preventing the illegal distribution of copyrighted works, if they enable the dissemination of works that depict minors in sexual situations or if they allow unauthorized access to computer data or systems.
The bill's sponsor, Democrat Kevin Murray, also authored legislation against "spyware" secretly installed on computers to track user habits. That bill was signed into law and took effect Jan. 1. In addition, he introduced a successful bill requiring file sharers that send copyrighted works to more than 10 users to include valid e-mail addresses.
In other news, New Hampshire legislators are considering a bill, H.B. 47, that would regulate software that creates advertisements on computers as a result of visiting certain Internet sites. The measure also would prohibit the installation of spyware. The House Science, Technology and Energy Committee is reviewing the measure, which could impose up to $10,000 in fines for violations.
Governors Push For Economic Development
The nation's governors continued their State of the State addresses this week, pushing economic development and safety issues.
New Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, a former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, requested that the state expand its high-speed Internet infrastructure "so that we become as hospitable to the jobs of the knowledge economy ... as we are to manufacturing."
In Colorado, Gov. Bill Owens touted the state's Advance Colorado Center, which "provides a common headquarters for business development and industry associations in key industry clusters." The center will focus on emerging technologies, like nanotechnology, and is intended to "be a catalyst for Colorado entrepreneurs and a model for the nation," the Republican governor said.
Colorado's work in the technology sector "is indeed paying off" because the state's technology economy now ranks third in the nation, Owens said. In addition, he promised to maintain Colorado as a "safe haven from Internet taxation."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, called for a law to "identify cyber stalking as a crime" and pushed for a children's immunization registry "so that children's shot records will have one central location accessible to all providers."
The state also has "the chance to turn research and development into new investment and new jobs," he said. "The smartest thing we can do to create high-wage jobs and grow our economy is to keep our focus on education."
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney pushed education initiatives. "Today the MCAS [Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Test] tests math and English. I will move for science to be the third MCAS discipline and make science a graduation requirement as soon as possible," the Republican said.
The debate over importing prescription drugs from Canada was not as prominent an issue among governors this week. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, said his state was the first to "help needy seniors obtain safe and lower-cost prescription medicines from Canada" and pledged to continue to push the federal government on the issue.
But Rhode Island Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri, whose state recently voted to license certain Canadian pharmacies to sell drugs to state residents, did not mention the issue in his speech.
Canada's potential move to restrict foreign purchases of drugs has prompted Illinois, Montana and Rhode Island to seek new suppliers in Australia, Europe and New Zealand, Bloomberg reports.
Virginia Senate Panel Kills Internet-Filtering Bill
In Virginia, a state Senate committee on Tuesday killed a bill that would have required state libraries using federal funds to install pornography filters on their computers, AP reports.
The measure, S.B. 483, was introduced in January 2004 but languished in the Senate Finance Committee until this week, when the measure failed on a tie vote.
While state Sen. Stephen Martin, a Republican, argued that library computer monitors registered thousands of hits on porn sites in days, the Virginia Library Association said the problem is not widespread. A similar bill, H.B. 2797, is still pending in the House.
Iowans Irked By Security Costs For Governors
Iowa lawmakers are balking at a proposal from Gov. Tom Vilsack that would use $300,000 in taxpayer dollars to cover security costs for the National Governors Association (NGA) annual meeting in Des Moines come July, the Des Moines Register reports.
"We have many more pressing needs that the people of Iowa expect us to fund than the [NGA's] needs," said Republican Rep. Bill Dix, head of the state House Appropriations Committee.
A spokesman for the Democratic governor said the expense would be a good investment for the state. The event could draw as many as 1,500 people and serve as a "tremendous marketing opportunity for Iowa," spokesman Matt Paul said.
The event could generate up to $1.5 million, according to the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau. The $300,000 cost would cover a majority of the estimated $500,000 needed for adequate security. Private donations would cover the difference.
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