America Online Hails Nation's Newest Antispam Measure in Ohio.

DULLES, Va. -- America Online, Inc. released the following statement today regarding adoption by the Ohio legislature of the nation's newest state antispam bill:

"The Ohio legislature this afternoon has handed online consumers in the Buckeye State an early and important holiday gift in the form of one of the strongest antispam measures in the country.

"AOL enthusiastically applauds this action, and salutes the leaders in both chambers of the legislature who championed this critical bipartisan measure. A special thanks goes to the sponsors of the bill in the House and the Senate - Representative Kathleen Walcher and Senator Ron Amstutz. Without their support, courage and vision - this day would never have come.

"The legislation now heads to the Governor's office for consideration, and we respectfully urge Governor Taft to sign this into law, so we can open a new chapter in spam fighting in Ohio for the benefit of all Ohioans who go online and seek a spam-free experience for themselves and their families.

"The new antispam law in Ohio comes at a critical time for ISPs and online consumers who fight junk email and spammers on a daily basis. The law, if enacted, would impose harsh criminal penalties against the most egregious spammers, who use tactics of fraud and deceit to get spam into the email inboxes of online consumers. These sanctions, enforceable by state authorities in Ohio, include jail time, asset forfeiture, and monetary penalties.

"The legislation has been a priority for AOL at the state level, and directly impacts some of our internet access services whose network infrastructure is located in the State of Ohio - such as CompuServe.

"While no state or Federal law is a panacea for spam, this will have a strong, positive impact as part of a comprehensive, multi-faceted effort that includes a combination of corporate litigation, online industry collaboration, new antispam technologies, enhanced tools and features placed at the fingertips of our members, and stronger spam filtering at the email server level.

"AOL worked closely with Representative Walcher and Senator Amstutz during the crafting, consideration, and final passage of this timely legislation. In January, AOL representatives joined these lawmakers at a Capitol press conference where the initiative was unveiled for the first time.

"Earlier this year, AOL and our members also celebrated the adoption of a new antispam law in Maryland, which - like the Ohio measure - contains tough antispam provisions with criminal penalties."