Microsoft is proposing a new legislative approach to battling junk email, hoping to bridge a widening gap between various industry and consumer groups that threatens to bog down congressional efforts to eradicate spam.

Like several bills already proposed or being drafted, the software giant wants increased penalties for the fraudulent practices of many spammers who peddle diet fads, get-rich-quick schemes and pornography. But the company is also pushing for an electronic seal-of-approval system for all email marketing, to ensure that legitimate marketers meet high standards and to help consumers weed out unsavoury or unwanted spam.

Under the company's plan, unsolicited commercial email would have to be labelled with "ADV" - short for advertisement - a system used in some states and proposed in a bill by Senator Charles Schumer. The new wrinkle, however, is that companies could forgo the label if they join a "trusted sender" program that mandated email marketing rules, such as ensuring that consumers are removed from mailing lists if they request it.

The rules would be set by industry and technology groups, administered by a third party and overseen by the Federal Trade Commission, said Ms Ira Rubinstein, Microsoft associate general counsel.

Previous attempts to regulate junk email failed but, with spam now accounting for 40 per cent of email traffic, analysts expect some form of legislation to pass the US Congress this year.

The marketing and retailing industries want legislation to focus on spammers that fraudulently disguise their origin, gather email addresses by using special software to "scrape" them off Web pages, and sell unsavory products or services. Anti-spam groups believe any unsolicited commercial email is spam. - (Washington Post Service)