Cutting Down on ‘Spam’

A group of large e-mail marketing companies proposed a detailed set of privacy standards. The Responsible Electronic Communications Alliance, which includes DoubleClick, 24/7 Media, Bigfoot Interactive and ClickAction Inc., says the standards will cut down on the number of unwanted e-mails, or “spam,” that Internet users receive. A survey conducted last year by the Gartner Group research firm found that 91% of e-mail users receive spam at least once a week, and most of them favor either regulating spam or banning it. The group presented the standards at an industry trade show in Boston. They include measures that restrict advertisers from sending solicitations to consumers without previous consent and allow consumers to remove themselves from advertisers’ mailing lists. Industry executives will review the proposal, which will be presented to the Federal Trade Commission in Washington later this year. FTC officials were not immediately available for comment.