The Anti-Spam Zealots who went to the FTC Spam Forum

On the three days from April 30 through Friday, May 2, 2003, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) held a "Spam Forum" in Washington, D.C. According to the FTC website, the purpose of this forum was "to address the proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mail and to explore the technical, legal, and financial issues associated with it." While the FTC and other government entities try to figure out how they can legally address the Spam issue, they are doing so without consulting with those of us who run small businesses online. Of the 97 people who spoke at the forum, the majority was technicians and lawyers who represent the ISP's and Anti-Spam companies. A few of the people even represented large bulk email companies. Forum participants could not even agree on a proper definition of "spam" --- yet they propose that they are the best qualified to help write the laws that will eliminate spam? My question is this, who represented the small business owner and the small publishers at the FTC spam forum? No one really. It was not because the small business segment did not have representatives willing to speak on their behalf. In fact, both I-Cop.org and OMPUAC.org --- both of whom represent small online businesses --- had petitioned to have their representatives speak at the forum, but both were turned down. You can read the list of the people who DID speak at the FTC "Spam Forum" at: http://www.theezine.net/ftc_spam_forum.shtml Should you honestly believe the anti-spam profiteers had your interests in mind when they had the opportunity to speak to the FTC? Here are some of the anti-spam profiteers who found representation at the FTC "Spam Forum":