IB
Union Calendar No. 394
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3113
[Report No. 106–700]
To protect individuals, families, and Internet service providers from unsolicited
and unwanted electronic mail.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 20, 1999
Mrs. WILSON (for herself, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BARRETT
of Wisconsin, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BOUCHER, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. DEAL of
Georgia, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. GORDON, Mr.
GREENWOOD, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. KLINK, Mr. LUTHER,
Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. ROGAN,
Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. STRICK-
LAND, and Mr. STUPAK) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Commerce
JUNE 26, 2000
Additional sponsors: Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BARTON of
Texas, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. PICKERING, Mr.
GARY MILLER of California, Mr. HOLT, Mr. PITTS, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr.
ADERHOLT, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. WELLER, Mr. MOORE, Mr. FRELING-
HUYSEN, Mr. WOLF, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. FROST, Ms.
CARSON, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. CRAMER, and
Mr. SCHAFFER
JUNE 26, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 20, 1999]
A BILL
To protect individuals, families, and Internet service
providers from unsolicited and unwanted electronic mail.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unsolicited Commercial
Electronic Mail Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND POLICY.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) There is a right of free speech on the Inter-
net.
(2) The Internet has increasingly become a crit-
ical mode of global communication and now presents
unprecedented opportunities for the development and
growth of global commerce and an integrated world-
wide economy. In order for global commerce on the
Internet to reach its full potential, individuals and
entities using the Internet and other online services
should be prevented from engaging in activities that
prevent other users and Internet service providers
from having a reasonably predictable, efficient, and
economical online experience.
(3) Unsolicited commercial electronic mail can
be an important mechanism through which businesses
advertise and attract customers in the online environ-
ment.
(4) The receipt of unsolicited commercial elec-
tronic mail may result in costs to recipients who can-
not refuse to accept such mail and who incur costs for
the storage of such mail, or for the time spent access-
ing, reviewing, and discarding such mail, or for both.
(5) Unsolicited commercial electronic mail may
impose significant monetary costs on Internet access
services, businesses, and educational and nonprofit
institutions that carry and receive such mail, as there
is a finite volume of mail that such providers, busi-
nesses, and institutions can handle without further
investment. The sending of such mail is increasingly
and negatively affecting the quality of service pro-
vided to customers of Internet access service, and
shifting costs from the sender of the advertisement to
the Internet access service.
(6) While some senders of unsolicited commercial
electronic mail messages provide simple and reliable
ways for recipients to reject (or ‘‘opt-out’’ of) receipt
of unsolicited commercial electronic mail from such
senders in the future, other senders provide no such
‘‘opt-out’’ mechanism, or refuse to honor the requests
of recipients not to receive electronic mail from such
senders in the future, or both.
(7) An increasing number of senders of unsolic-
ited commercial electronic mail purposefully disguise
the source of such mail so as to prevent recipients
from responding to such mail quickly and easily.
(8) Many senders of unsolicited commercial elec-
tronic mail collect or harvest electronic mail addresses
of potential recipients without the knowledge of those
recipients and in violation of the rules or terms of
service of the database from which such addresses are
collected.
(9) Because recipients of unsolicited commercial
electronic mail are unable to avoid the receipt of such
mail through reasonable means, such mail may in-
vade the privacy of recipients.
(10) In legislating against certain abuses on the
Internet, Congress should be very careful to avoid in-
fringing in any way upon constitutionally protected
rights, including the rights of assembly, free speech,
and privacy.
(b) CONGRESSIONAL DETERMINATION OF PUBLIC POL-
ICY.—On the basis of the findings in subsection (a), the
Congress determines that—
(1) there is substantial government interest in
regulation of unsolicited commercial electronic mail;
(2) Internet service providers should not be com-
pelled to bear the costs of unsolicited commercial elec-
tronic mail without compensation from the sender;
and
(3) recipients of unsolicited commercial elec-
tronic mail have a right to decline to receive or have
their children receive unsolicited commercial elec-
tronic mail.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) CHILDREN.—The term ‘‘children’’ includes
natural children, stepchildren, adopted children, and
children who are wards of or in custody of the parent,
who have not attained the age of 18 and who reside
with the parent or are under his or her care, custody,
or supervision.
(2) COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGE.—
The term ‘‘commercial electronic mail message’’
means any electronic mail message that primarily
advertises or promotes the commercial availability of
a product or service for profit or invites the recipient
to view content on an Internet web site that is oper-
ated for a commercial purpose. An electronic mail
message shall not be considered to be a commercial
electronic mail message solely because such message
includes a reference to a commercial entity that serves
to identify the initiator.
(3) 
COMMISSION.—The 
term 
‘‘Commission’’
means the Federal Trade Commission.
(4) DOMAIN NAME.—The term ‘‘domain name’’
means any alphanumeric designation which is reg-
istered with or assigned by any domain name reg-
istrar, domain name registry, or other domain name
registration authority as part of an electronic address
on the Internet.
(5) ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESS.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘electronic
mail address’’ means a destination (commonly
expressed as a string of characters) to which elec-
tronic mail can be sent or delivered.
(B) INCLUSION.—In the case of the Internet,
the term ‘‘electronic mail address’’ may include
an electronic mail address consisting of a user
name or mailbox (commonly referred to as the
‘‘local part’’) and a reference to an Internet do-
main (commonly referred to as the ‘‘domain
part’’).
(6) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ has the
meaning given that term in section 231(e)(3) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)).
(7) INTERNET
ACCESS
SERVICE.—The term
‘‘Internet access service’’ has the meaning given that
term in section 231(e)(4) of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(4)).
(8) INITIATE.—The term ‘‘initiate’’, when used
with respect to a commercial electronic mail message,
means to originate such message or to procure the
transmission of such message.
(9) INITIATOR.—The term ‘‘initiator’’, when used
with respect to a commercial electronic mail message,
means the person who initiates such message. Such
term does not include a provider of an Internet access
service whose role is limited to handling, transmit-
ting, or retransmitting the message.
(10) PRE-EXISTING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP.—
The term ‘‘pre-existing business relationship’’ means,
when used with respect to the initiator and recipient
of a commercial electronic mail message, that either
of the following circumstances exist:
(A) PREVIOUS BUSINESS TRANSACTION.—
(i) Within the 5-year period ending
upon receipt of such message, there has been
a business transaction between the initiator
and the recipient (including a transaction
involving the provision, free of charge, of in-
formation requested by the recipient, of
goods, or of services); and
(ii) the recipient was, at the time of
such transaction or thereafter, provided a
clear and conspicuous notice of an oppor-
tunity not to receive further messages from
the initiator and has not exercised such op-
portunity.
(B) OPT IN.—The recipient has given the
initiator permission to initiate commercial elec-
tronic mail messages to the electronic mail ad-
dress of the recipient and has not subsequently
revoked such permission.
(11) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘recipient’’, when
used with respect to a commercial electronic mail
message, means the addressee of such message.
(12) UNSOLICITED
COMMERCIAL
ELECTRONIC
MAIL MESSAGE.—The term ‘‘unsolicited commercial
electronic mail message’’ means any commercial elec-
tronic mail message that is sent by the initiator to
a recipient with whom the initiator does not have a
pre-existing business relationship.
SEC. 4. PROTECTIONS AGAINST UNSOLICITED COMMER-
CIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL.
(a) REQUIREMENTS
FOR TRANSMISSION
OF MES-
SAGES.—
(1) INCLUSION OF RETURN ADDRESS.—It shall
be unlawful for any person to initiate the trans-
mission of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail
message to any person within the United States un-
less such message contains a valid electronic mail ad-
dress, conspicuously displayed, to which a recipient
may send a reply to the initiator to indicate a desire
not to receive any further messages.
(2) PROHIBITION OF TRANSMISSION AFTER OB-
JECTION.—If a recipient makes a request to a person
to be removed from all distribution lists under the
control of such person, it shall be unlawful for such
person to initiate the transmission of an unsolicited
commercial electronic mail message to such a recipi-
ent within the United States after the expiration,
after receipt of such request, of a reasonable period of
time for removal from such lists. Such a request shall
be deemed to terminate a pre-existing business rela-
tionship for purposes of determining whether subse-
quent messages are unsolicited commercial electronic
mail messages.
(3) ACCURATE ROUTING INFORMATION.—It shall
be unlawful for any person who initiates the trans-
mission of any unsolicited commercial electronic mail
message to any person within the United States to
take any action that causes any Internet routing in-
formation contained in or accompanying such
message—
(A) to be inaccurate;
(B) to be invalid according to the pre-
vailing standards for Internet protocols; or
(C) to fail to accurately reflect the routing
of such message.
(4) INCLUSION OF IDENTIFIER AND OPT-OUT.—It
shall be unlawful for any person to initiate the trans-
mission of any unsolicited commercial electronic mail
message to any person within the United States un-
less the message provides, in a manner that is clear
and conspicuous to the recipient—
(A) identification that the message is an
unsolicited commercial electronic mail message;
and
(B) notice of the opportunity under para-
graph (2) not to receive further unsolicited com-
mercial electronic mail messages from the
initiator.
(b) ENFORCEMENT OF POLICIES BY INTERNET ACCESS
SERVICE PROVIDERS.—
(1) AUTHORITY
TO
ESTABLISH
POLICIES.—A
provider of Internet access service may enforce a pol-
icy regarding unsolicited commercial electronic mail
messages, but only if such policy complies with the re-
quirements of paragraph (3).
(2) PROHIBITION OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VIOLA-
TION OF POSTED POLICY.—It shall be unlawful for
any person to initiate the transmission of an unsolic-
ited commercial electronic mail message to any per-
son within the United States in violation of a policy
governing the use of the equipment of a provider of
Internet access service for transmission of unsolicited
commercial electronic mail messages that meets the
requirements of paragraph (3).
(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR ENFORCEABILITY.—The
requirements under this paragraph for a policy re-
garding unsolicited commercial electronic mail mes-
sages are as follows:
(A) CLARITY.—The policy shall explicitly
provide that compliance with a rule or set of
rules is a condition of use of the equipment of a
provider of Internet access service to deliver com-
mercial electronic mail messages.
(B) PUBLIC
AVAILABILITY.—The policy
shall be publicly available by at least one of the
following methods:
(i) WEB POSTING.—The policy is clear-
ly and conspicuously posted on a World
Wide Web site of the provider of Internet
access service, which has an Internet do-
main name that is identical to the Internet
domain name of the electronic mail address
to which the rule or set of rules applies.
(ii) NOTIFICATION
IN
COMPLIANCE
WITH
TECHNOLOGICAL
STANDARD.—Such
policy is made publicly available by the
provider of Internet access service in accord-
ance with a technological standard adopted
by an appropriate Internet standards set-
ting body (such as the Internet Engineering
Task Force) and recognized by the Commis-
sion by rule as a fair standard.
(C) INTERNAL OPT-OUT LIST.—If the policy
of a provider of Internet access service requires
compensation specifically for the transmission of
unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages
into its system, the provider shall provide an op-
tion to its subscribers not to receive any unsolic-
ited commercial electronic mail messages, except
that such option is not required for any sub-
scriber who has agreed to receive unsolicited
commercial electronic mail messages in exchange
for discounted or free Internet access service.
(4) OTHER ENFORCEMENT.—Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to prevent or limit, in any way, a
provider of Internet access service from enforcing,
pursuant to any remedy available under any other
provision of Federal, State, or local criminal or civil
law, a policy regarding unsolicited commercial elec-
tronic mail messages that complies with the require-
ments of paragraph (3).
(c) PROTECTION OF INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE PRO-
VIDERS.—
(1) GOOD
FAITH
EFFORTS
TO
BLOCK
TRANS-
MISSIONS.—A provider of Internet access service shall
not be liable, under any Federal, State, or local civil
or criminal law, for any action it takes in good faith
to block the transmission or receipt of unsolicited
commercial electronic mail messages.
(2) INNOCENT RETRANSMISSION.—A provider of
Internet access service the facilities of which are used
only as an intermediary, retransmitter, or relay for
unsolicited bulk commercial electronic mail messages
transmitted in violation of subsection (a) shall not be
liable for any harm resulting from the transmission
or receipt of such electronic mail unless it permits the
transmission or retransmission of such electronic mail
with actual knowledge that the transmission is pro-
hibited by subsection (a) or subsection (b)(2).
SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) GOVERNMENTAL ORDER.—
(1) NOTIFICATION OF ALLEGED VIOLATION.—The
Commission shall send a notification of alleged viola-
tion to any person who violates section 4 if—
(A) a recipient or a provider of Internet ac-
cess service notifies the Commission, in such
form and manner as the Commission shall deter-
mine, that a transmission has been received in
violation of section 4; or
(B) the Commission has other reason to be-
lieve that such person has violated or is violating
section 4.
(2) TERMS OF NOTIFICATION.—A notification of
alleged violation shall—
(A) identify the violation for which the no-
tification was issued;
(B) direct the initiator to refrain from fur-
ther violations of section 4;
(C) expressly prohibit the initiator (and the
agents or assigns of the initiator) from further
initiating unsolicited commercial electronic mail
messages in violation of section 4 to the des-
ignated recipients or providers of Internet access
service, effective on the 3rd day (excluding Sat-
urdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays)
after receipt of the notification; and
(D) direct the initiator (and the agents or
assigns of the initiator) to delete immediately the
names and electronic mail addresses of the des-
ignated recipients or providers from all mailing
lists owned or controlled by the initiator (or such
agents or assigns) and prohibit the initiator
(and such agents or assigns) from the sale, lease,
exchange, license, or other transaction involving
mailing lists bearing the names and electronic
mail addresses of the designated recipients or
providers.
(3) COVERAGE OF MINOR CHILDREN BY NOTIFI-
CATION.—Upon request of a recipient of an electronic
mail message transmitted in violation of section 4,
the Commission shall include in the notification of al-
leged violation the names and electronic mail address-
es of any child of the recipient.
(4) ENFORCEMENT OF NOTIFICATION TERMS.—
(A) COMPLAINT.—If the Commission be-
lieves that the initiator (or the agents or assigns
of the initiator) has failed to comply with the
terms of a notification issued under this sub-
section, the Commission shall serve upon the
initiator (or such agents or assigns), by reg-
istered or certified mail, a complaint stating the
reasons for its belief and request that any re-
sponse thereto be filed in writing with the Com-
mission within 15 days after the date of such
service.
(B) HEARING AND ORDER.—If the Commis-
sion, after an opportunity for a hearing on the
record, determines that the person upon whom
the complaint was served violated the terms of
the notification, the Commission shall issue an
order directing that person to comply with the
terms of the notification.
(C) PRESUMPTION.—For purposes of a de-
termination under subparagraph (B), receipt of
any transmission in violation of a notification
of alleged violation 30 days (excluding Satur-