Twenty-eight Democratic House members led by House Telecom Subcom...

portion of the CAN-SPAM Act passed late last year. Markey inserted in the bill a provision banning unauthorized transmissions on mobile phones, based in part on legislation (HR-122) sponsored by Holt. The letter cites NTT DoCoMo in Japan, which has reported that in one day alone, 38 million wireless customers received 150 million pieces of spam. “Unlike traditional spam,” the members wrote, “wireless spam is more than a nuisance and a waste of time -- under most current text messaging plans, consumers have to pay every time they send or receive a message.” They also urged the FCC to require an easy opt-out method, such as sending a “no” text message. Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce Committee Thurs. will hear testimony on the progress federal agencies are making in carrying out the CAN-SPAM Act, mere months after its passage. Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) will preside. A committee statement said the hearing will focus “on the effectiveness of the CAN-SPAM Act and the anticipated effect of new anti-spam initiatives in curtailing the delivery of unwanted e-mail, known as spam, to consumers.” The FTC and FCC still are crafting rules and preparing reports for Congress on proposals such as a do-not-spam list, but ISPs have brought legal action against spammers under the new law. S-877 by Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) and Wyden (D-Ore.) cleared McCain’s committee last year, and McCain shepherded the legislation on the floor, leading negotiations with members on amendments. McCain, Burns and Wyden all made strong statements upon passage about how effective the new law would be against spammers, but several studies in recent months have suggested there has been little decrease in spam.