If you're tired of spam e-mails, Pennsylvania has done something to help. The Unsolicited Telecommunications Advertisement Act, a piece of legislation created to protect consumers from deceptive and misleading e-mails and other types of electronic messages, recently was enacted.

The legislation came from complaints made by individuals and companies whose messaging systems are interrupted by the spam.

Under this new law, false or misleading subject lines or return addresses are illegal, and a lack of a valid return address or toll-free number to cancel or unsubscribe to the messages also is illegal. All a person has to do to file a complaint is visit www.attorneygeneral.gov, where there is a step-by-step process.

Misleading faxes and unsolicited wireless ad messages are covered by the act too. The perpetrators can face a fine of up to $1,500, and the attorney general will take legal action.

This is a much-needed Web site and it will be helpful for everyone. These e-mails are an annoyance, clog inboxes and slow mail servers; they need to be stopped. We think the reporting system and threat of a fine is an effective way to deter companies from using this tactic.

These e-mails are similar to phone call solicitations, and one would not want someone on the phone to mislead or deceive him or her. One would not want a phone solicitor to greet him or her by name, as if in casual conversation, then go into a sales pitch -- which is exactly what the e-mails do.

The Web site is easy to use and with a few clicks of a mouse, Pennsylvanians can stop the junk from flooding their inbox.

Thank you, legislators, for helping us avoid junk mail and for recognizing this problem.