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COMBATTING SPAM - NEW GLOBAL ANTI-SPAMMING AGREEMENT
"One survey last month said spam represented as much as 76 percent percent of all email
traffic" - Bureau of National Affairs, Internet Law News.
The UK, USA and Australia have all recently signed a new anti-spamming
agreement, to combat the outbreak of unsolicited e-mails being sent to individuals
and businesses. A key to the signing of this agreement is the fact that spam does not
simply operate within one country, but can penetrate all borders.
It appears that many spammers operate out of the United States but route their junk
messages through overseas computers to avoid detection and therefore make prosecution
more difficult.
The agreement allows the following bodies to share information and work together to
investigate and prosecute rogue marketers who send out billions of dubious spam
messages every day:
- The U.S Federal Trade Commission;
- The UK's Office of Fair Trading, The Information Commissioner and The
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; and
- Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission and the Communications
Authority
The debate as to the likely effect of the alliance has already commenced, with respected
figures in the anti-spamming movement suspecting there will be little or no change.
There have also been calls for China to be included in such an agreement, as statistics
reveal that upto 70% of websites sending junk mail are hosted in China.
The industry waits eagerly to see if the experts are indeed correct.
© RT COOPERS, 2004. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does
it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in
relation to particular circumstances.
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