Federal anti-spam legislation moved one step closer to passage Thursday as the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved the Burns-Wyden 'Can Spam Act' and sent it to the full Senate.

At the same time, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced another bill that would put repeat spammers in jail for up to five years and levy fines as high as $25,000 a day.

The Can Spam Act, if passed by Congress, would require marketing e-mail to have legitimate return addresses and be clearly identified as advertising. Spammers could be sued by federal prosecutors or Internet providers for a variety of sins, including not removing recipients' names from their mail list if so requested, harvesting names from the Web, or forging addresses. In a sop to legislation proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the bill also includes a provision for a 'no-mail' list that consumers could use to opt-out of bulk e-mailings.

Hatch and Leahy, meanwhile, introduced yet another ban-spam bill, the Criminal Spam Act. Spammers who use open relays -- unprotected mail servers -- to disseminate their junk mail, or who falsify message headers to disguise their identity would face penalties of up to five years in federal prison (three for a first offense), and fines as high as $25,000 a day.

The Criminal Spam Act joins a veritable host of anti-spam legislation under consideration by the Congress, among them the 'Rid Spam Act,' touted by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.).