Accessibility menu
State Representative Joe Atkins
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4192
For more information contact: Christina Gosack 651-296-5524
Press/News Releases
Atkins Anti-Spam Bill Advances to House Floor
A bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL – Inver Grove Heights) to create tough criminal penalties against e-mail spammers passed a final committee hurdle this week and was sent to the House floor to await a vote by the entire Minnesota House. Spam, or unsolicited junk e-mail, currently makes up around two-thirds of all e-mail received.
"E-mail spam is a big nuisance," said Atkins. "But it also costs Minnesota a lot of money – businesses, internet service providers and their customers all end up paying for the wasted time and internet traffic."
Under current Minnesota law, there are no criminal penalties for sending out the unsolicited and often obscene bulk e-mail messages. Atkins' bill, the "Minnesota Spam Control Act," would create misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor and felony levels of crime, and impose jail time and monetary penalties on the worst spammers.
"These criminals use deceptive tactics to get spam messages into your inbox through paths that can't be traced," explained Atkins. "For example, they'll hack into someone else's computer and use it to send out thousands of spam e-mails, without the owner of the computer even knowing. My bill will outlaw these practices."
Similar laws in other states have been used to successfully prosecute widely known spammers. Atkins' bill would also work hand-in-hand with the federal anti-spam legislation passed in 2003.
"There's only room for one kind of spam in Minnesota and that's the kind you can eat," said Atkins.
News Items
- Rep. Atkins, Sen. Lourey Introduce Health Insurance Exchange Legislation - (Posted: Jan 9 2013 3:44PM)
- Rep. Atkins – Statement on Deal to End NHL Lockout - (Posted: Jan 7 2013 2:05PM)
- Rep. Atkins to Hold Minnesota House Hearing on Economic Impact of Hockey Lockout - (Posted: Jan 2 2013 3:20PM)
- Archived News Items
- Subscribe to RSS News Feeds
- Read more about RSS.