5a. Who cares about this stuff?  Just delete it

  The waste of resources, not to mention your time, has already taken 
  place.  Besides, if UBE goes unchecked, you might be looking for a 
  keyboard with multiple DEL keys, and a few extra fingers with which 
  to push them.
 

5b. There ought to be a law!

 <tongue-cheek>
  Why don't we sic Those Pesky Congress Critters (TPCC)(tm) on them?  
  Do that, and the next thing you know the sky will be filled with 
  Black Helicopters.
 </tongue-cheek>

 US FEDERAL: 
  There has been a lot of discussion regarding the United States' 
  junk fax law (47 USC Section 227) and its applicability to U*E.  
  The text of this law is available at 
    <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html>
  This law has been very effective in eliminating junk faxes in the 
  US.  As of this writing, there is a bill working its way through 
  the US House of Representatives that would amend the 47 USC 227 to 
  include unsolicited commercial email.  This effort is being led by
  The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE);  the text
  of the amendment, which was introduced by Representative Chris Smith
  of New Jersey, can be found at
    <http://www.cauce.org/amendment.html>

  A bill has been passed by the US Senate, S.1618.  Senator Frank 
  Murkowski of Alaska joined with Senator Frank Torricelli of New 
  Jersey to put forth an FTC-enforced opt-out plan;  this can be
  found at 
     <http://www.senate.gov/~murkowski/commercialemail/EmailBillText.html>

  As of the date of this FAQ, there have been as many as 96 cases
  pending where 47 USC 227 is being tested for its applicability to 
  email.  Check news.admin.net-abuse.email, and other Net news services, 
  for updated information.
  
  There is also another US statute.  18USC1029 is a computer anti-
  hacking law that could make it illegal to use false headers or fake 
  accounts on  computers. (They call it access codes, devices or 
  services.)

 STATE-LEVEL:
  Washington state has passed a law requiring truth in headers and 
  other identification information to be included in any commercial
  email sent to Washington state residents.  The text can be found at:
     <http://www.cauce.org/washlaw.html>

  Effective January 1, 1997, Section 17538(d) of the Business and 
  Professions Code took effect in CALIFORNIA.  This begins:
    "A vendor conducting business through the Internet or
    any other electronic means of communication shall
    do all of the following when the transaction
    involves a buyer located in California:"
  and goes on to mandate some very specific requirements about
  exactly how the legal name and address of the vendor shall
  be prominently disclosed.  Violations of this section 
  are punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of
  up to $1,000.

  Cal BPC 17538 (d) seems to say that if you make a purchase over 
  the Internet from California, the seller must tell you their real name 
  and address and their return or refund policy before accepting 
  payment;  this appears to be a watering-down of earlier versions, 
  which stipulated that such information be put on the web page or in 
  the advertisement making the offer.

  The text of this California business code can be found at:
    <http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=
      17001-18000&file=17530-17539.6>

  NEVADA has passed a bill in July 1997 in its legislature that deals 
  specifically with the issue of U*E.  It appears to have been rendered
  nearly useless by last-minute lobbying efforts by the Direct
  Marketing Association.  The text can be found at:
    <http://www.leg.state.nev.us./97bills/SB/SB13.HTM>
  The bill's sponsor was Senator Raggio: 
    <wraggio@sen.state.nv.us>.  
  If you'd like to tell the DMA what you think, the place to do it is:
    <president@the-dma.org>

5c. I *like* getting U*E!

  Post your address in n.a.n-a.e - lots of folks would be happy to 
  forward you some more.  Be sure to reserve -plenty- of space.


5d. I'm seeing a lot of ads in my favorite newsgroup - help!

  Sorry, wrong FAQ.  You want the Net Abuse FAQ, posted thrice monthly
  (on the 1st, 11th, and 21st) to news.admin.net-abuse.*, 
  news.admin.misc, news.groups.questions, and news.answers. It will 
  also be available by anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu and its mirror 
  sites.  The master hypertext version is available at:
    <http://www.cybernothing.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq.html>