Anti-spam law critics predict failure

The new anti-spam directive which came into force today will not stop unsolicited email, critics have warned.

Under the terms of the European Privacy and Communications Directive, businesses sending marketing emails to consumers will have to obtain express permission from the recipient.

And it will be illegal to send emails or text messages to mobile phones unless companies can prove an existing customer relationship for similar products and services.

Failure to comply could lead to a £5,000 fine for each offence.

But the directive will be crippled by the failure of nine EU states, including France and Germany, to comply, forcing the European Commission to begin infringement proceedings against them.

And the US 'Can Spam' proposal, expected to become law on 1 January 2004, works on the alternate opt-out principle, allowing businesses to send emails to people unless they ask not to receive them.

Graham Cluley, senior research analyst for antivirus and anti-spam firm Sophos, warned: "These laws won't make any difference at all.

"Since 95 per cent of spam comes from the US, if the US Can Spam becomes law on 1 January I think we will see a lot more spam, as this is a very weak law and pretty bad news."

And it is near-impossible to take legal action against spammers because of the difficulty in tracking them down.

"More than a third of spam now comes from hijacked PCs as the link between spammers and virus writers becomes more prevalent, and it is often sent through countries like Russia or China which have no laws against spam," he said.

But parliamentary anti-spam group the All Party Internet Group (Apig) sees the directive as a positive step.

"It is a small step forward, and as countries now see spam as a threat and not just an irritant they are taking it more seriously," said Brian White MP, the group's treasurer.

Organisations such as the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, the FBI, the Office of Fair Trading and its US equivalent the Federal Trade Commission have built strong working relationships which will help stop spammers, said White.

Also under the directive, cookies may still be used as long as website visitors are made aware that they are are there. Users must also be given "clear and comprehensive" information regarding how their information will be collected and how it will be used, together with the right to object to that use.

See also:

Microsoft and ISPs launch spam legal offensive

Software giant joins AOL, EarthLink and Yahoo!  29 Oct 2004

Spammers consider UK a soft touch

'Derisory sanctions' of European e-privacy law has made spam problem worse, warn experts  11 Jun 2004

Firms won't pay extra for spam filters

Few European companies willing to pay more to their ISPs for protection  09 Jun 2004

Government talks tough on spam

DTI considers 'serious enforcement' of e-privacy legislation  30 Apr 2004

Europe trails UK on spam control

Eight EU countries warned to implement privacy directive on junk mail and cookies  05 Apr 2004

Spam still escapes new privacy laws

Legitimate businesses will be persecuted while the real spammers slip through the net, says Andrew Hooles.  17 Dec 2003

Site cookies break the law

Online firms not meeting cookie regulations  15 Dec 2003

Spam policies must reflect risks.

The first step to devising an appropriate anti-spam plan is to assess the risks  02 Dec 2003

Know your legal obligations

The number of rules in place to keep businesses on the straight and narrow is increasing daily.  27 Nov 2003

Cookies must have opt-out

New legislation will require changes to many web sites  25 Nov 2003

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