Orange County, Calif., Lawmaker Seeks to Empower Consumers against Junk E-Mail.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, July, 2000

Jul. 19--It's the Internet's equivalent of junk mail or the telemarketer's call at dinner.

It's called spam, and the House of Representatives just passed a bill that may give consumers a chance to fight back.

Some observers doubt the measure will do much to stem the tide of unwanted e-mail delivered over the Internet.

The bill, authored in part by Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, passed 427-1 in the House. A similar measure is expected to be voted on in the Senate later this session.

The bill wants to tackle those who repeatedly e-mail ads called "spam houses" or "chickenboners" by anti-spam advocates that dump thousands of the messages on consumers at a time by mass mailing.

The cost to the spammers: almost nothing. But...

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