AdWeek: FTC Assesses Bounty System for Nabbing Spammers

As promised, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted an analysis to Congress on whether or not whistleblower rewards would help enforce anti-spam measures. The Commission found that rewards of $100,000 to $250,000 would very likely help with the identification of spammers and the provision of evidence to help convict them. Much "cybersleuthing" done by private spam haters as well as law enforcement officials relies on deductions that wouldn't be admissible in court as evidence against an alleged spammer.

When Congress first suggested to the FTC that it investigate the prospects for privately aided enforcement, the FTC seemed to have a knee-jerk negative reaction to it. The report issued today remains fairly critical of the proposed method, although it suggested several measures that might help reduce some concerns. In particular, it specified eligibility requirements (such as having high value information) and suggested that these eligibility judgments be made final so as to avoid nuisance claims that could tie up the FTC with spurious litigation.