FTC rejects anti-Spam registry.

In a report to Congress, the Federal Trade Commission rejected the feasibility of a National "Do Not Spam" registry. The FTC had been investigating the possibility of the creation of such a list since Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act in December 2003.

In its review of the proposal, the FTC considered the feasibility of three possible registries: one containing individual e-mail addresses; one containing the names of domains that did not wish to receive spam; and a registry of individual names that would require spam to be sent via an independent third party. The FTC ultimately concluded that none of the three options were viable, as they could not be enforced effectively and that poor security could result in registered addresses receiving even more spam. "Without effective authentication of e-mail, any registry is doomed to fail," stated the report.

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Despite its rejection of the registry, the FTC announced that it would sponsor an Authentication Summit in fall 2004 to help focus efforts on creating an e-mail authentication system that would prevent spammers from evading spam filters and law enforcement officials. To view the FTC report in its entirety, visit www.ftc.gov/reports/dneregistry/report.pdf.