Another antispam bill debuts in House

Five members of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Wednesday that they had introduced yet another antispam bill, making it at least the eighth proposal that's circulating on Capitol Hill this year. The "Anti-Spam Act of 2003" would require commercial e-mail senders to let recipients decline future messages and impose labeling requirements on sexually explicit e-mail, according to a summary of the legislation.

The bill's sponsors include Heather Wilson, a Republican from New Mexico, Democrat Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Democrat Rick Boucher of Virginia. Their proposal differs from many--but not all--similar bills in that it would impose criminal penalties on spammers of up to two years in prison, instead of just civil fines.