[ale] Governor Proposes Felony for Spammers

[Jim Popovitch]

ATLANTA (AP) _ Georgians who flood the Internet with spam e-mail 
could be charged with a felony under a bill proposed today by 
Governor Perdue. The Georgia Slam Spam E-Mail Act would punish 
spammers with a felony who send more than ten-thousand false or
misleading messages in one day, generate large amounts of money 
from spam or use minors to help them transmit the e-mails. The 
bill also outlines misdemeanor charges for lesser violations. 
Perdue urged legislators to pass the act -- quote -- "so that 
Georgians can once again check their e-mail without having to 
wade through a cesspool of spam."  He made the announcement at 
the headquarters of Atlanta-based EarthLink. The Internet service
provider endorses the proposed legislation. Perdue says the state 
law would only allow law enforcement officials to prosecute 
spammers based in Georgia, but hoped other states would enact 
similar laws. EarthLink's C-E-O Garry Betty says about 80 percent 
of all e-mails are spam. That amounts to as many as 250 (m) million
messages a day

See:
http://www.wgst.com/cc-common/local_news_common.html?ID=20050119122652&feed=local