George Bush's position on Cenorship

Censorship: Congress enacted a new law, entitled the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003" ("CAN-SPAM Act"). The law, which was signed by the President on December 16, 2003 and took effect on January 1, 2004, imposes limitations and penalties on the transmission of unsolicited commercial e-mail via the Internet. This bill overrides all preexisting state anti-spam laws, puts numerous restrictions on the marketing e-mail messages companies can send to users, levies fines and jail terms for offenders and also allows the has authorized the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but did not require them to establish a "do-not-email" registry.

George W. Bush:

Description of candidate's position:

Bush supported "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003" by signing it into law after the bill had passed through the senate on November 25, 2003.

Quotation from the candidate:

A quotation from George W. Bush was not available, but Tim Muris, the Federal Trade Commission chairman, stated this about the CAN-SPAM act, "There is no magic bullet to stop spam. The solution will require technology, self-help, and enforcement. This legislation provides additional help for law enforcers such as the FTC. We have already brought dozens of cases involving deceptive spam, and have many additional investigations under way. We are also working with agencies that have criminal enforcement authority. The CAN-SPAM Act provides clearer criminal authority against spam, and gives the FTC additional tools to fight spam."

Assessment of the proposal:

Positive: While both Kerry and Bush show they feel some measures need to be taken against "Spam" and unwanted emails. By the time the legislation was passed it was not quite as effect as many had hoped and was seen more as too little, too late. It is often hard for federal legislation to keep up with the ever-changing technology which the internet personifies. While some groups give them credit for trying it seems that the "CAN-SPAM" act was not able to keep up with the changing strategies of "Spammers" everywhere.

Negative: Many organizations such as CATO, a conservative think tank, pointed to the fact that by setting up federal rules for the "Spammers" to follow the government was actually helping to increase the number of "Spam" emails sent out. They along with other organizations feel this act is actually just increasing the number of such emails. http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/041001-tk.html

The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail (CAUCE), which has over 44,000 members states, "The Federal Trade Commission's decision to not create a national Do Not Spam registry because of technical and enforcement concerns is the final nail in the coffin of the federal CAN-SPAM Act, and points up the need for a new, tougher federal anti-spam law in the United States. Without a registry through which consumers, businesses and nonprofit organizations could preemptively protect themselves from the incessant barrage of e-mail advertisements, there is no reason to believe that the current barrage of spam -- estimated by some organizations as being roughly three-quarters of all e-mail sent in May, 2004 -- will decrease any time soon." http://www.cauce.org/news/index.shtml

Comparison: For both Bush and Kerry this does not seem to be an issue which attracts much attention in either campaign. The stump speeches from both candidates have not included the topic of spam or the "CAN-SPAM Act" in general. Though when the legislation went through both candidates seemed to agree that something needed to be done about the "non-solicited" emails.

Link to Kerry's issue page