SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis signed into law Tuesday a groundbreaking bill aimed at banning often offensive "spam" advertisements from the online mailboxes of millions of California computer users.
The measure, by state Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), would make it illegal for spam marketers and their advertisers to e-mail Californians, unless the recipient had specifically requested it or had had a prior business relationship with the advertiser, such as a bookseller.
Violators would be subject to a fine of $1,000 for each unsolicited message and up to $1 million for blitz campaigns in which hundreds of thousands or even millions of unsolicited sales pitches are sent out daily.
As Davis signed the bill, SB 186, he announced that he had also signed or soon would approve other measures in a package aimed at protecting the privacy of Californians and guarding them from identity theft.
Many states, including California, have enacted laws aimed at cracking down on unsolicited e-mail, whose topics can include products such as sexual enhancers, "anti-aging" creams, weight-loss pills and heavily discounted home loans. But Murray said his bill, effective Jan. 1, would be the first to hold an advertiser liable along with the spam merchant.
"We think it is going to be the toughest bill in the nation," the senator said Tuesday. "The beauty of this is you go after the advertisers. They are fineable and attachable."
Murray noted that spam has increased astronomically in the last couple of years and said it costs frustrated businesses and consumers billions of dollars in wasted time as well as the costs of trying to prevent it.
The new law will allow state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, Internet service providers and individual citizens to sue spam marketers and their advertisers in civil court. Backers of the bill said that feature alone would discourage spam.
As the bill traveled through the Legislature, lawmakers agreed that it would be relatively easy for California to win judgments against spam merchants and their advertisers in state courts. But some considered actually recovering damages from those outside the state and overseas problematic.
Currently, the state routinely sues out-of-state and foreign companies that do business in California for a variety of offenses, such as fraud and false advertising.
