This TidBITS article discusses a new California statute that is the most aggressive anti-spam legislation yet, “The new California statute definitely pushes the envelope. It bans all unsolicited commercial email unless the recipient has agreed to receive it.” But the author wonders whether laws will accomplish anything: “...spam laws won’t stop spam, nor will they even stem the tide, if experience so far is any guide. The old California statute did not reduce or even noticeably slow the increase in spam. I hold no great hope that the new statute will do any better. Legitimate businesses have already altered their practices to comply with existing spam law, and will no doubt do their best to comply with the new one. But legitimate business accounts for only a small amount of the spam we receive.”
In this case, it looks like the Internet is a textbook case of an anarchy, no government is effectively in control. What private solutions will arise to deal with this? Which ones will win out? It should be very interesting to watch.
