Anti-Spam Laws Too Feeble, Say Campaigners
Tue December 09, 2003 06:56 AM ET
By Bernhard Warner,
European Internet Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - Anti-spam crusaders are stepping up criticism of a host of new national laws they say will do little to stop the torrent of junk e-mail messages that promise a better sex life and riches to share with Nigerian exiles.

New legislation, set to be enacted most notably in Britain and the U.S. in the coming weeks, is the latest step by lawmakers to define permissible e-mail communications between marketers and consumers.

But critics say that by allowing some forms of mass e-mails -- such as in the United Kingdom where the new legislation permits the spamming of corporate e-mail users -- the laws will generate confusion and open up the floodgates for abuse.

The whole problem with these laws is that they are geared to spammers being honest and respecting laws. And of course there are no honest spammers -- the whole profession is based on deceit, said Steve Linford, founder of anti-spam organization The Spamhaus Project.

The UK law, which goes into force on December 11, has also been criticized for carrying what critics call a low $8,700 fine for offenders who send messages to consumers without their consent.

This is a bargain for spammers, said Linford. Some of them make 20,000 to 30,000 pounds ($34,798 to $52,197) per week.

With unwanted messages accounting for at least half of all e-mails sent, fighting spam has risen to the top of most developed countries' legislative agendas this year.

Spam has gone from a nuisance to a security concern too as a new wave of nasty missives pack a computer virus program capable of taking over an unsuspecting computer user's PC. Police say the new tactic has triggered a cyber crime wave.

The biggest criticism is that a patchwork of new national laws will force spammers further underground. The nuances of technology enable them to disguise their location to make it appear as though their messages originated in countries that have not criminalized the practice, such as the Caribbean or Eastern Europe.

U.S. CONCERNS, EUROPEAN LAGGARDS

A new federal law for the United States, the undisputed spam capital of the world, could go into effect before year-end. It too has attracted critics who say it pre-empts stronger state laws that would have permitted individuals to sue spammers in civil cases.

Europe, meanwhile, has a mixed scorecard.

In September, Italian lawmakers imposed tough new regulations that call for fines of up to $110,100 and a maximum prison term of three years. In Sweden, a draft law would impose a fine of up to $684,300.

But nine member states, including France and Germany, have failed to meet an EU deadline of December, 2002 to outlaw spam. Last week, the EU threatened to fine laggard nations.

The move against spam has to be a global initiative, industry observers say.

EU legislation against spam is a step in the right direction, but with most unsolicited e-mail coming from Asia and the US, it is like putting a windbreak in the path of a hurricane, said Colin Gray, European managing director of Atlanta-based e-mail security company CipherTrust Inc.

It's a costly storm. Gray estimated spam costs European businesses $3.04 billion per year.
Source: Reuters