FTC Assesses Bounty System for Nabbing Spammers

NEW YORK “Whistleblowers” or “insiders” are most likely to supply admissible evidence of a spammer’s identity, whereabouts or level of illegal activity, the Federal Trade Commission concluded in a report issued today.

The report assessed whether and how a bounty system that rewards members of the public for tracking down spammers would or could help improve enforcement of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2002.

According to the report, potential whistleblowers—often personal or business associates of the spammer—would weigh the possibility of a reward against a number of opposing variables.