Until now, the DMA has opposed the majority of anti-spam bills in Congress or offered only lukewarm support. But the ever-rising tide of junk e-mail has made the influential trade association rethink its stand.

"Even legitimate business' messages are not being looked at because of the get-rich-quick schemes and pornography and so forth," Jerry Cerasale, the DMA's vice president for government affairs, said in a telephone interview Monday afternoon.

The DMA's change of heart, which comes as the group meets in San Francisco for its 85th annual convention this week, means that a sizable obstacle to federal legislation has vanished. The DMA, along with its allies at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Federation, have previously scuttled some anti-spam laws from being enacted by Congress.

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