McCallum wants dirty e-mail to be misdemeanor

May 21, 2001

MADISON& #0151; Gov. Scott McCallum has included a provision in the state budget to make sending unsolicited pornographic e-mail a misdemeanor as complaints mount.

The state Division of Trade and Consumer Protection has handled more than 50 complaints about junk and pornographic e-mails this year, up from nine in 2000, said Bill Oemichen, division administrator.

"High school teen-agers are being bombarded with that type of e-mail," said Oemichen.

E-mail producers worldwide harvest addresses from Internet service providers' member directories, he said.

Sen. Joanne Huelsman, R-Waukesha, said she's gotten pornographic e-mail on her office computer.

Assembly Majority Leader Steve Foti, R-Oconomowoc, and state Sen. Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, are pushing a bill that would require all unsolicted e-mail to include warnings identifying them as advertisements.

McCallum's provision would make porn e-mail legal only if it carries a warning identifying it as an adult advertisement.