I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3024
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to restrict the transmission
of unsolicited electronic mail messages.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 5, 1999
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to restrict the
transmission of unsolicited electronic mail messages.
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 ‘‘Netizens Protection
Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF INITIATION OF TRANSMISSION OF
UNSOLICITED ELECTRONIC MAIL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—No person may initiate, or cause
to be initiated, the transmission of an unsolicited elec-
tronic mail message in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce if the message—
(1) does not contain the name, physical ad-
dress, and electronic mail address of the person who
initiates the transmission of the message;
(2) does not provide an electronic method by
which the recipient of the message can contact the
person who initiated the transmission of the message
to request that no further such messages be sent,
which method may include electronic mail or Inter-
net access; or
(3)(A) is part of a bulk transmission of such
messages; and
(B) includes information that is located in the
subject line of the message and is false or misleading
with respect to the body of the message.
(b) TREATMENT OF STATE LAWS.—Subsection (a)
may not be construed to preempt any State law relating
to unsolicited commercial electronic mail.
(c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—
(1) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any person adversely
affected by a violation of subsection (a) may, within
1 year after discovery of the violation, bring a civil
action against a person who violates such subsection
in a district court of the United States or in any
other court of competent jurisdiction, for the district
or jurisdiction in which the unsolicited electronic
mail message was received or in which the defendant
is located.
(2) RELIEF.—In a civil action under this sub-
section, the court may—
(A) grant temporary and final injunctions
on such terms as it may deem reasonable to
prevent or restrain violations of subsection (a);
(B) award damages as described in para-
graph (3); and
(C) direct the recovery of full costs, includ-
ing awarding reasonable attorneys’ fees to an
aggrieved party who prevails.
(3) DAMAGES.—
(A) AMOUNT.—The amount of damages in
an action under this subsection for a violation
of subsection (a) may not exceed $500 for each
unsolicited electronic mail message the trans-
mission of which was initiated in violation of
such subsection. The court shall treble the
amount recovered under the preceding sentence
for any transmission of an unsolicited electronic
mail message to the aggrieved party in violation
of subsection (a) that the court finds was initi-
ated after the aggrieved party contacted the
initiator of the transmission to request that the
initiator not initiate further transmissions of
such mail to such person.
(B) 
RELATIONSHIP
TO
OTHER
DAM-
AGES.—Damages awarded under this para-
graph for a violation under subsection (a) are
in addition to any other damages awardable for
the violation under any other provision of law.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS AGAINST USE OF INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER SERVICES TO INITIATE UNSOLIC-
ITED ELECTRONIC MAIL.
(a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—Each interactive com-
puter service provider shall make available to each cus-
tomer of the interactive computer servicer of the provider
the policy of the provider regarding unsolicited electronic
mail, including any option the provider may have for the
customer to elect to receive or not to receive unsolicited
electronic mail and any other options customers may exer-
cise to restrict the receipt of unsolicited electronic mail.
Such policy shall be set forth in writing, in clear and un-
derstandable language, in the agreement for the provision
of the interactive computer service by the customer.
(b) VIOLATION OF POLICY AGAINST BULK MAIL.—
No customer of an interactive computer service provider
may use the equipment or facilities of the provider to ini-
tiate, or cause to be initiated, the bulk transmission of
an unsolicited electronic mail message if the policy re-
ferred to in subsection (a) of the provider prohibits the
initiation of such bulk transmissions.
(c) CAUSE OF ACTION.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In addition to any other
remedies available under any other provision of law,
any interactive computer service provider adversely
affected by a violation of subsection (b) may bring
a civil action in a district court of the United States
against a person who violates such subsection.
(2) RELIEF.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—An action may be
brought under paragraph (1) to enjoin a viola-
tion of subsection (b), to obtain damages as
specified in subparagraph (B), or to obtain such
further and other relief as the court considers
appropriate.
(B) DAMAGES.—The amount of damages
in an action under this subsection for a viola-
tion of subsection (b) may not exceed $500 for
each unsolicited electronic mail message the
transmission of which was initiated in violation
of such subsection.