Channel Insider content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

The Associated Press reports the House passed a bill Saturday that would impose the first-ever federal protection against unwanted commercial e-mails.

The measure would outlaw certain techniques used by many of the Internet’s most prolific spammers and, in some circumstances, include penalties of up to five years in prison.

But, if adopted, the bill would supplant tougher anti-spam laws already passed in some states.

Click to read the full story on eWEEK.com.