Spam Wars: Legislative Interest
Last night I had the chance to meet with Sen. Niederhauser after the meeting of the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee. (You can read more on the subcommittee meeting here.) While talking to him, I brought up the anti-spam law I had proposed back in July. I was pleased to find out that both he and Rep. Andersen are interested in such a law and have asked some legislative researchers to find more information on implementing it.
One of the big barriers is trying to prevent what caused the original law to be repealed: massive abuse by unscrupulous lawyers. Sen. Niederhauser and I both agree that it's a deeper problem in the legal system where innocent parties have little incentive to fight an expensive battle compared to paying out a smaller settlement. What might bring the law through is requiring the plaintiff to pay all costs if they end up losing. Both of us seemed to agree that such a mechanism has potential.
In the meantime, you should write to both your state senator and state representative to ask them to work with Sen. Niederhauser in getting this law passed in a future session. The more of us that express interest, the more likely we can get something done about it.
Jesse
Shauna
Jesse – do you expect that a bill will be ready by January?
That’s a great question. There’s going to be some big battles on health care, UTOPIA and vouchers (no, that issue will refuse to go away in November), so it’s kind of dicey. What’ll bump it up is writing to your legislators to let them know you support the effort and getting other people you know to do the same.
I know why (at least I think I do) you want that bill, and I approve!
That would be nice if it were to pass