House Considers Anti-Spam Act

doctorfaustus writes "According to CNET, The Unsolicited Electronic Mail Act of 1999 is being considered by the House of Representatives today." He echoes a lot of people's concerns when he calls this "taking a baseball bat to a pingpong ball." You can sue for $500 per email (!), and if the spammer doesn't stop, that amount triples. What effect will this have on valid internet communication?

(We'd provide a Thomas link, but as doctorfaustus points out, it doesn't seem very up-to-date.)