California Gov. Gray Davis just signed into state law arguably the toughest anti-spam law in the United States. But will this new law work in combating spam, and will it pass constitutional muster? Only time will tell.
In the surprising absence of a federal law that grapples with spam head-on, approximately 35 states have enacted their own laws to try to deal with the problem. These state laws differ one from the other. Still, there are some commonalities, such as requirements that unsolicited commercial e-mails: (a) plainly reveal their true nature with initials such as ADV in subject lines to identity them as advertisements, (b) contain correct return e-mail addresses and 800 telephone numbers, and (c) that requests to opt out of the receiving of the e-mails be honored rapidly.
