2003 House Bill 4519 ↩

Senate Roll Call 282: Passed

To require senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail (“spam”) to Michigan residents to conspicuously state in the e-mail the sender's legal name, correct street address, a functioning return electronic address, and a valid internet domain name. The message would be required to include in a subject line "ADV:" as the first four characters for a commercial e-mail. Also, senders would be required to provide a convenient, no-cost mechanism to notify the sender not to send any future e-mail to the recipient, including a toll-free telephone number to call to be excluded from future mailings. Sending spam to a recipient who notified the sender that he or she did not want to receive future e-mails would be prohibited. The bill also prohibits the transfer of software which has the purpose of enabling the falsification of e-mail transmission or routing information. Penalties of up to a $10,000 fine and one year in jail are provided, and greater penalties for using deceptive practices. The Attorney General, recipients of spam, or Internet service providers could sue for actual damages, $500 per unsolicited message, or $250,000 for each day a violation occurs, plus legal costs. See also <a href="http://www.michiganvotes.org/2003-SB-357">Senate Bill 357, which establishes a state “do not spam” list.