The Arizona House this week reportedly joined the Senate in approving an anti-spam bill.
Senate Bill 1280 now returns to the Arizona Senate for approval of some changes made in the House.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, contains fairly common provisions aimed at preventing spammers from falsifying their mailings' origins. For example, it would prohibit falsifying headers, misleading subject lines and unauthorized use of a third party's Internet domain name.
It also would require the subject lines of unsolicited e-mail advertising to begin with “ADV:”.
Under the bill, marketers also would have to give Arizona residents an easy way to opt out of future mailings. Marketers would be required to complete opt-out requests within three business days and would be prohibited from selling the names of people who opted off their lists.
The bill contains a provision protecting e-mail service providers.
The bill exempts organizations that use e-mail to communicate with members, senders who have permission to mail, senders with whom recipients have pre-existing business relationships and senders who mistakenly e-mail.
The bill also would exempt e-mail account providers who attach advertising to the messages in exchange for use of the accounts.
Violators could be sued for lost profits, other damages and attorney fees, or $10 for each e-mail up to $25,000.
About half the states have anti-spam legislation on their books.
