[KRL]

House Passes Bill That Will Limit Spam

WASHINGTON - Congress moved significantly closer to the first-ever federal protections against unwanted commercial e-mails with the House passing a bill Saturday that would impose new limits on sending irritating offers on the Internet. Final approval by lawmakers could come before Thanksgiving.

The measure would outlaw the shadiest techniques used by many of the Internet's most prolific e-mailers and include penalties up to five years in prison.

But it also would supplant even tougher anti-spam laws already passed in some states, including a California law scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

The bills would prohibit senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from disguising their identity by using a false return address or misleading subject line. They also would prohibit senders from harvesting addresses off Web sites and require such e-mails to include a mechanism so recipients can indicate they do not want future mass mailings.

Both bills authorize the Federal Trade Commission to establish a do-not-spam list, similar to the agency's popular do-not-call list of telephone numbers that marketers are supposed not to call.