FTC: subject-line labeling ineffective against spam.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC FTC See Federal Trade Commission (FTC). ) submitted a report to Congress in June recommending that senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail should not be required to include a label on the subject line of e-mails indicating that the e-mail is an advertisement. The FTC created the report and submitted it for congressional consideration as a requirement of the CAN SPAM Act passed into law in 2003. In the report, the FTC lists several reasons for its recommendation that senders of spam nor be required to include specific characters, such as "ADV ADV Advertisement ADV Adverb ADV Advance/Advanced ADV Advantage (tennis) ADV Advise ADV Advocate ADV Advancement ADV Advent ADV Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Datenverarbeitung ADV Adversus (Latin: Against) " in the subject line of e-mail. It doubts that subject-line headings would help Internet service providers Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. (ISPs) block unwanted e-mails because similar efforts in states and other countries have been unsuccessful. The report found that subjectline labeling is less precise than existing spam filters currently available for free through ISPs and commercial companies. The FTC also noted that spammers are unlikely to comply with requirements to label unsolicited messages. The FTC suggested the focus should shift from subject-line headings to the development of new technology, such as e-mail authentication The verification that an e-mail message has been sent by the domain name in the From field. Called "domain spoofing," spammers falsify the From address in their messages in order not to be identified. . The commission's report said ISPs and law enforcement officials would be more successful in identifying and tracking spammers if they could determine e-mail address See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address origins. Spammers can currently disguise their identity by falsifying fal·si·fy v. fal·si·fied, fal·si·fy·ing, fal·si·fies v.tr. 1. To state untruthfully; misrepresent. 2. a. domain information. To advance this effort, the FTC announced a new website, https:// secure.commentworks.com/FTC-Email AuthenticationQuestionnaire, where technologists can share the results of tests on domain-level e-mail authentication standards. The commission said that the new site is part of an ongoing effort to "assist the private market in the creation, testing, evaluation, and deployment of domain-level authentication (1) Verifying the integrity of a transmitted message. See message integrity, e-mail authentication and MAC. (2) Verifying the identity of a user logging into a network. ." The FTC said it believes that spam and phishing schemes can be thwarted through effective authentication technology. To access the FTC report, visit www.ftc.gov/reports/canspam05/05061 6canspamrpt.pdf. |
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