BUSINESS
Authorities join forces to tackle spam
05-07-2004
by Craig Liddell
The UK, US and Australian governments have joined forces to tackle spam.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Friday promotes joint enforcement and investigation of spammers across the three countries.
"With most spam coming from outside the UK this deal forges our individual initiatives together and puts the fight against spam on a global footing," UK Communications Minister, Stephen Timms, said. "It's not going to solve spam overnight but it is going to help. It reinforces our determination to tackle spam with a combination of government and industry initiatives, technical solutions, and user awareness."
Under the MoU, enforcement authorities in the UK, US and Australia will work together to investigate spammers in those countries and will take part in joint training initiatives to combat spam. Further, international solutions and strengthening capabilities will be developed to trace and convict spammers and cross-border enforcement will take effect.
The announcement follows a hive of legal activity in the fight against spam.
In December 2003, the UK introduced legislation which seeks to ban e-mails sent from a business to an individual without their permission. The new law was created in response to the European Union (EU) Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, which was created in July 2002.
EU member states were given until October 2003 to adopt the regulations and, in Ireland, the new Act governing e-mail and Short Messaging Service (SMS) was introduced in November.
Across the Atlantic, the US CAN-SPAM Act 2003 came into force in January 2004 and promises to crack down on unsolicited commercial e-mail by imposing stiff civil penalties and even prison sentences to people convicted of spamming. In Australia, the Spam Act 2003, which came into effect in April, is part of a multi-layered approach incorporating legislation, technical countermeasures, and strategic partnerships with industry bodies.
Friday's announcement is considered a significant step in stopping spam. In February 2004, e-mail security provider, MessageLabs, warned that the UK legislation would be unlikely to have a significant impact in protecting UK users as the legislation does not apply to any unsolicited e-mail sent from outside the EU. The company's research shows that, in January 2004, 76.4 percent of spam e-mails to UK addresses originated from the US.
Meanwhile, the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will be hosting a London summit in October which will gather consumer protection regulators from around 30 countries.
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