#9. Maine Predatory Marketing Law

What’s so AWFUL? The law has been recommended for immediate repeal, but is still on the books.

Last October, Maine’s joint Judiciary Committee held a special session to review the newly-enacted Predatory Marketing to Minors law, which held the number one position on the Aug-2009 edition of the iAWFUL watch-list.

The current law is a sweeping set of regulations that require ‘verifiable parental consent’ before a teenager can share or a website can collect personal or health-related information – or face laswuits with statutory damages.   NetChoice filed comments opposing the law and testified at a public hearing in October. The Judiciary Committee recommended repeal of the law in a report filed with the Senate President and House Speaker.

There’s a new bill (LD 1677) that repeals this law, but it also proposes a new regulatory regime for ‘unlawful pharmaceutical marketing to minors.’  While the revised proposal is an improvement, we welcome the chance to continue working with sponsors to strike a balance between consumer protection and freedom of expression.

NetChoice posts on this topic:

Maine Committee Does the Right Thing, Recommends Repeal of Marketing Law

<whew> That Was iAwfully Close!

Maine Legislature Reconsiders Troubled Privacy Law

Misguided Marketing Restriction and Online Travel Tax Top List of Worst Internet Legislation

[1]Emphasis added.

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