Simon calls for more work on behalf of consumers

Samuel A. Simon, founder and chairman of the Telecommunications Research & Action Center (TRAC), will testify on behalf of consumers at the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public Spam Forum, tomorrow, April 30th. Simon will discuss the falsity of spam with representatives from industry, government, and the public interest. The FTC estimates that approximately two-thirds of all unsolicited commercial email consumers receive contain false and misleading information.

TRAC, the nation's leading telecommunications-focused consumer group, joined with Consumer Action and National Consumers League last September to fight the epidemic of spam. The three filed a petition with the FTC calling for a rule making to classify unsolicited commercial email as an "unfair and deceptive" trade practice under the Federal Trade Act. Additionally, the proposed rule would prohibit email that misrepresents the source, sender, subject, or does not give consumers a reliable opt-out.

“Since filing the petition, the FTC has made progress, but to consumers, the spam problem is urgent,” said Sam Simon of TRAC. “We applaud the Commission for filing suit to shut-down a pornographic spam operation that was notorious for deceiving consumers with innocuous subject lines, and hope that they will continue to work from our proposal and strengthen enforcement of violators.”

In addition, the coalition launched the national "Ban the Spam" campaign and received more than 4250 consumer horror stories through the campaign’s web site, www.banthespam.com. Some testimonials were forwarded to staff at the FTC and used anecdotally in media interviews.

The Spam Forum is open to the public, and there is no registration fee. Pre-registration is not required. The forum will be held at the FTC’s satellite offices at 601 New Jersey Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. For more information on how to attend, or participate via teleconference, please visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/spam/index.html.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

John Breyault, TRAC, johnb@trac.org, 202-263-2943

ABOUT TRAC:

The Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC), founded in 1983, is a non-profit membership organization based in Washington, DC that promotes the interests of residential telecommunications customers. TRAC staff researches telecommunications issues and publishes rate comparisons to help consumers make informed decisions regarding their long distance and local phone service options. TRAC can be found on the web at http://www.trac.org.