Byline: Cynthia L. Webb

Spam is an emotional issue for many Internet users, as last week's Federal Trade Commission workshop on junk e-mail underscored. FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle had to intervene to head off what potentially could have been a messy confrontation between an anti-spam activist and a representative for a group of commercial e-mailers.

The Washington Post related the story in a Saturday piece: "Tensions escalated during questions from the audience. Florida lawyer Mark Felstein , director of the pro-spam EMarketersAmerica.org , confronted panelist Alan Murphy of the blacklist Spamhaus , angrily arguing that blacklists sometimes hurt innocent marketers. Most of the audience didn't know Felstein had named Murphy as one of the several defendants in a lawsuit he filed against anti-spammers and blacklists a couple weeks ago. Another defendant, Adam Brower , sat irritated nearby. When the session ended, Felstein and Brower headed for each other. By chance, FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle, racing toward the door for lunch, stepped between them. 'They both bumped up against me and were jabbing at each other, and one started saying, 'He assaulted me,' recounted the grandfatherly Swindle, a former Marine Corps aviator and Vietnam War POW who towered over the two. Swindle ... told the scufflers to take a deep breath, then added, 'If you want to see assault, I can show you.'" * The Washington Post: Spam And The Case of Dyspepsia * The Washington Post: Blacklisted E-Mailers Sue Anti-Spam Groups (Article from April 26)