| Will
new spamming laws stop spam? |
| Posted: December 16th, 2003 |
| By:
Colin Coates |
 |
As of December 11th 2003 new
spamming laws came into effect in the UK, which could see offending
individuals or organisations fined anything from £5,000 to an unlimited
sum. However, early evidence shows that top UK web sites are already
flouting the new rules. Will the new law break the spammers or will
the spammers break the law? |
Named after that repulsive fusion of crushed meat
stuffed into ugly looking tins, e-mail Spam is equally disliked by
the vast majority of people that come into contact with it.
The word "Spam" as applied to Email means Unsolicited Bulk Email ("UBE"). Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substantively identical content.
If you have an Internet connection and receive e-mail there is a 99.9% chance that you also receive spam from people or organisations you have never heard of before in your life.
The number of spam messages being sent over the Internet has reached epidemic proportions that it now counts for 60% of all email traffic on the Western Internet and is forecast to reach 70% by January 2004.
So who is to blame for the meteoric rise in spam? Well, if the humble spam message could speak it would probably accredit the organisations responsible for the creation of the Internet and governments of the world for it's sudden rise to fame.
But hey, let's not play the blame game, instead why don't we scrutinise the solution?
Unfortunately the UK government's solution (new spamming laws) to the problem has been slammed as lacking in digital dexterity.
IN THE FORUMS
"If
the ban has started today, it isnt working as I had more than 10"
unzymotic
JOIN
THE DISCUSSION |
The new law, which came into effect on December 11th 2003, falls way short of hammering a nail in the proverbial coffin as far as spammers are concerned.
It is feared that the new UK spamming laws could create loopholes that could be exploited by spammers because it attempts to differentiate between 'private' and 'business' spamming.
According to the law as it stands now, it is illegal to send Unsolicited
Bulk Email to a private email address in the UK, but not illegal to
send Unsolicited Bulk Email to employees of British businesses.
So in other words you may not receive spam at home, but when you log
on at work bundles of evil spam messages will be waiting for you.
How the law-makers came to that senseless little arrangement is a
mystery but their incompetence doesn't stop there.
The law states that companies or organisations found guilty of breaking the law will face an immediate fine of up to £5,000 and if taken to court the fine could be unlimited.
However, here's the catch. Spammers are allowed free reign to spam
all email users in the UK until they are issued with a direct warning
to cease and desist by the body charged with the responsibility of
policing the law, the Information
Commissioner.
Only this body is yet another overworked and under-funded government authority that could easily find itself overwhelmed with complaints and simply buckle under the pressure.
The bottom line
| Worst Offenders |
List of worst offending countires responsible for the
majority of spam as of November 2003
(1) United States
(2) China
(3) South Korea
(4) Brazil
(5) Argentina
(6) Canada
(7) Taiwan
(8) Italy
(9) Russia
(10) India
Source: Spamhaus.org |
Spam just like the tonnes of junk mail that come filtering through your letter box on a regular basis is going to be extremely difficult to eradicate.
Even if the UK laws work like a treat we won't see the end of spamming
here in the UK because the vast majority of spam we receive comes
from abroad and UK laws have no powers to stop spam from foreign countries.
Last but by no means least, spam operations are run by sociopaths
and generally nasty people but the products they are plugging are
more often than not manufactured by some of the world's most influential
companies that can foster considerable government lobbying weight.
It is in their economic interests to benefit from the power of direct marketing, therefore any infringement on those activities could do considerable damage to their share price.
Seeking salvation from spam
The good news is yes, there are people and organisations that foresaw
the problems that spam could cause way before our governments even
knew what an e-mail was.
They have been tirelessly working to eradicate the activities of the
spammers sometimes, with considerable risk to their lives.
SpamCop and SpamHaus are just a couple of organisations that have proved quite effective in blocking the activities of some of the world's most unscrupulous spammers.
Hopefully if they and the governments of the world can work together maybe one day Internet users the world over will see the Promise Land. But don't count your chickens! |
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