The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today proposed that computer users who are unknowingly sending out millions of spam e-mail messages through their infected computers must turn off their computers until they are fixed.

In order to make this option a viable one, the FTC has requested approximately 3,000 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) worldwide to remedy the problem by identifying machines that are sending out suspiciously high amounts of e-mails regularly and quarantining them. The FTC said ISPs should then help customers clean their machines and bring it out of the "hijack" state. The FTC has codenamed such machines as Zombie PCs.

According to various reports, zombie machines have accounted for nearly 50 to 80 percent of all spam e-mail generated globally. The Federal Trade Commission said it’s not necessarily the user’s fault, as they are completely oblivious to such an activity (referring to users with less technical knowledge of their systems), therefore, the commission requested ISPs to further help them as need be.

The FTC also suggested that ISPs should route all e-mail messages to their servers, but technical users that have their own e-mail servers would not be delighted to hear such an argument.

The FTC will also take part in the initiative by possibly identifying zombie PCs and informing their ISPs about it.

The commission said it has support from nearly 25 countries, all the way from Peru to Bulgaria. However, China, which is considered to be one of the developing hubs of spam messages, has declined to participate in the campaign against spam.

The FTC said many of the U.S. based ISPs have already started working towards the plans the commission laid out.

Posing a concern, David McClure, President, U.S. Internet Industry Association, said ISPs must be careful to determine what’s legitimate mail and what’s not. Additionally, ISPs can’t legally read their user’s mail, as it’s illegal.