It looks like my home state of Indiana on target when it comes to protecting its citizens from e-crime. As this press release reveals, there are two (actually, three, the third deals with credit history and insurance eligibility) interesting new public laws that have recently been enacted.

The first expands the definition of identifying information and facilitates easier recovery from theft scenarios. Of course, all librarians should have a vested interest in protecting vulnerable patrons from identity theft, so this can be viewed as a positive development.

I was more intrigued by the second law, which requires spammers to identify their unsolicited emails with a code in the subject line, as in {ADV} or for adult-oriented mail {ADV:ADLT}. Failure to comply will result in fines under the state's deceptive consumer sales laws, which carry penalties of up to $500 per offense. I love this concept and wonder if it's truly enforcable. I'm no expert on law, particularly e-law, but it seems to me that a single state enacting this kind of legislation will have virtually no effect as most traffic is likely to be interstate. Am I wrong? Seems like it's time for Congress to catch the wave, no?

Courtesy of BeSpacific.

Update: According to this Slashdot post, Michigan is following suit submitting similar anti-spamming legislation with even harsher penalties.