• March 31, 2004

The Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) has urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to recommend against the adoption of a do not e-mail registry in an upcoming report to Congress. ANA argued that such a registry would not solve the spam problem, but would add new costs and burdens to marketers with no commensurate benefits. Dan Jaffe, ANA Executive Vice President, stated: "Spammers are sophisticated criminals. They will never comply with a do not e-mail registry, so it would not reduce the spam that consumers find objectionable. In fact, this registry will create major new security and privacy risks for consumers, as the government cannot develop a foolproof system for protecting the integrity of the list. A do not e-mail registry would truly be the 'Fort Knox' list of e-mail addresses for a criminal spammer."