Unsolicited internet commercial mails containing sexual material should carry labels now. According to a Federal Trade Commission rule went into effect this week, the subject of non-requested sexual commercial e-mails must contain the words “sexually explicit.”

With this rule, computer users can set their filtering system up to recognise these words and avoid any sexually-oriented material that they do not want to look at.

The new rule of FTC also prohibits graphic images shown in the opening body of the message. The recipients either scroll down in the e-mail or click on a provided link to see the sexual material included in the e-mail.

Violators of this rule can face possible imprisonment and criminal fines up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for an organisation.

Even though some industry advocates are critical of the rule and it is expected difficult for FTC to track down violators, many Christians welcomed this rule.