While a federal law would be better than a state one, I don't think that that works. If you read your [link|http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/ad-faqs.htm|FTC] link more carefully, that the misrepresentation has to be material to the decision to purchase. Unfortunately the identity of the unknown stranger who contacted you is not material to whether you will choose to undergo penis enlargement surgery as they suggest.

A case might more reasonably be made that "opt-out" provisions which try to trick people into confirming their email addresses are actionable. But I would have to talk to a good lawyer to get a sense of whether that is doable.

A very good case can be made that Congress should pass a law like Washington State has. :-)

Cheers,
Ben

PS Those of you that do live in Washington state can make some pocket change and do the rest of us a favour by reading [link|http://www.aboutspam.com/index.php|this page] and doing your part to make spamming expensive. :-)

The question was whether you could sue for things like forged headers under that statute. I maintain that you cannot because the headers don't materially affect whether you would purchase it.

Further misrepresentations in the body are another story. But the more specific you get, the smaller the fraction of spam that qualifies.

Cheers,
Ben

How often does the forged from line pretend to be from someone you would be inclined to trust.

If the forged from is not a major selling point, then that forgery isn't actionable by the FTC description of what they look for. It isn't material to the ad, and so that untruth matters no more than the lie in an ad which shows an SUV of similar size to a mountain.

Cheers,
Ben