Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. announced recently that the New York State Senate has passed comprehensive legislation that would fight unwanted e-mail spam and pop-up ads. The legislation would expand the successful "Do Not Call" Registry which currently targets unwanted solicitation telephone calls, to include people who do not want to receive unsolicited spam e-mails.

According to Fuschillo, the legislative package includes provisions that would:

* Ban deceptive spam that evades spam filters.

* Enable people to unsubscribe from spam e-mail lists and place their names on a "Do Not Spam" registry.

* Allow people to disable website pop-up ads.

* Ban spam sent to cellular phones.

* Require the flagging of spam e-mails with sexual content.

* Fight the cyber-squatting of website domain names.

* Provide for the enforcement of website privacy policies.

"This is the most comprehensive package of anti-spam legislation that has been introduced in any state in the nation," Fuschillo said. "Communications technology is advancing rapidly, and so is the ability of advertisers to spread unwanted ads through inboxes, cell phones, and pop-ups on websites. This legislation tells spammers that enough is enough and would give computer users the tools to fight back and stop spam."

* Researchers estimated the number of spam messages sent every day at nine billion, more than 40 percent of all e-mail sent.

* This year, more than 2 trillion pieces of spam e-mail are expected to fill Internet mail boxes, more than 100 times the amount of mail delivered by the United States Postal Service last year.

* It costs businesses an estimated $9 billion a year in lost productivity for time spent deleting spam e-mails and adds approximately two dollars a month to an individual's Internet bill

* More than 2/3 of spam e-mails are false or deceptive.

"The spam problem is much more than just a nuisance," Fuschillo said. "It is hurting business productivity, costing our economy billions of dollars, and is slowing down Internet service while threatening the future of e-mail communications."

Co-sponsored by Fuschillo, the Anti-Spam Act of 2003 is a comprehensive bill that would enable people to combat spam by getting removed from e-mail lists, prevent spam over cell phones and get rid of pop-up ads and pornographic e-mails. The Act would include following:

* Require that commercial e-mails contain a line that enable the computer user to unsubscribe from the spam senders e-mail list. This would make it significantly easier for people to stop follow-up spam and reduce the amount of spam crowding their inbox.

* Require websites which host pop-up ads to contain a process that would disable the pop-up ad on that site. New York State would be the first state in the country to address the issue of website pop-up ads.

* Prohibit spam sent to cell phones that have text messaging capabilities. Cell phone spam is currently a major problem in Japan and in Canada, and is just beginning to become a problem in the United States. This provision would put New York ahead of a potential problem.

* Require commerical e-mails with sexually oriented materials to contain a label in the subject line of the message "ADV:ADLT" to indicate that the message is not suitable for minors. Violators of any of the provisions in The Anti-Spam Act of 2003 would be subject to a fine of up to $500 per violation.

In addition, a provision of the legislation would prohibit the act of "cyber-squatting," and domain name piracy. Cyber-squatting refers to the practice of buying up domain names reflecting the names of existing people or businesses, intending to sell the names for a profit back to the person or business. Domain name piracy refers to people who purchase your name or business and use the name for a website that does not in any way relate to the person or business. Co-sponsored by Fuschillo, this provision of the legislation would create a state Internet privacy law to ensure that website operators who have privacy policies that protect personal information, adhere to those policies. Under this legislation, the state would be able to act against an e-vendor that violates this voluntary agreement by fining them up to $1,000 per violation.

The New York State Senate passed a legislative package last week sponsored by Senator Fuschillo regarding homeland security measures. According to the senator, the legislation would establish the criminal offense of impersonating a pilot or a ground crew member at an airport, and would include the theft of police or fire department identification under the crime of grand larceny.

"Studies have shown that people often accept the authority of a person in uniform without question, which presents a problem if the person wearing a uniform is doing so fraudulently," Fuschillo said. "In the current climate of heightened security nationwide, it is imperative that we impose strict penalties on those who impersonate legitimate law enforcement and airport personnel."

Last week, the Senate passed legislation that would enhance New York's homeland security by ensuring that municipalities are prepared to respond to a terrorist attack and increase penalties for trespassing at nuclear power plants. This legislation would complement legislation passed last year by the Senate that established the task force on State and Local Emergency Preparedness which sought input from public safety officials and experts on how localities could best be prepared to respond to a terrorist attack.

"We have learned a great deal from the tragic events of September 11 about emergency response to a terrorist attack and disaster preparedness," Fuschillo said. "This legislation would build on the anti-terrorism legislation passed earlier this year to make New York safer and make New Yorkers better prepared to handle terrorism."

In addition, the Senate passed a comprehensive package of anti-terrorism legislation in February that would establish the crimes of agri-terrorism and cyber-terrorism.