New UK Law Ineffective in Fighting Spam

r

New UK Law Ineffective in Fighting Spam
r

r

By Karen Snider, theWHIR.com
r

r

From Web Hosting Monthly, February 2004 edition
r

r

February 12, 2004 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY
r

REVIEW) — The government body enforcing the UK’s new anti-spam law is
r

lobbying for more power to put spammers immediately out of business.
r

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (informationcommissioner.co.uk)
r

wants “stop-now” powers because, as the law currently stands, it could
r

take longer than one year to stop spammers – a process officials say is
r

unacceptable for everyone.
r

r

“We don’t think the powers we have are
r

strong enough, so we can’t take action as quickly as we’d like,” says
r

Elizabeth Dunn, compliance manager for the UK’s Information
r

Commissioner’s Office.
r

r

The ICO is lobbying the UK’s Department
r

of Trade and Industry, which drafted the legislation, for the
r

“stop-now” powers. “It would up the ante a lot earlier. It would stop
r

what they (the spammers) are doing and make them explain why they
r

should get it back,” Dunn said.
r

r

Under the current legislation, it can
r

take a year to make spammers stop because they can appeal the ICO in
r

court. The process starts when a spam complaint is made and the ICO
r

investigates, sending the spammer a “preliminary notice.”
r

r

This gives the spammer the chance to
r

explain or fix whatever technical problem may have caused the offense,
r

in case it was accidental. If the problem persists, the ICO will issue
r

an official notice indicating its plan to take enforcement action.
r

r

At this point, the spammer can launch an
r

appeal in court – a process that could take a year to resolve, during
r

which time the offender can continue spamming. If the court dismisses
r

the appeal and the spammer continues to breach the ICO notice, then
r

they could be fined up to £ 5,000 in a magistrate court or unlimited
r

fines in a jury trial.
r

r

“It’s a long drawn-out process,” Dunn says. “We felt that was proof we need stronger powers to take action.”
r

r

One anti-spam technology company says
r

these delays in enforcement encourage spammers to set up in the UK. A
r

recent report by Spamhaus shows that over the last several months, the
r

UK has become one of the worst countries for junk mail production
r

because of loopholes in the legislation.
r

Prior to the new law, most spam was
r

blamed on culprits based in the US. However, under the legislation, the
r

ICO is only allowed to pursue spammers based in the UK – another point
r

of the legislation criticized by industry leaders.
r

r

“The reality is, and the government has
r

since admitted, the legislation will not impact the problem,” says
r

Martino Corbelli, marketing director of SurfControl (surfcontrol.com), a Web and email filtering company based in the UK. “It’s a global issue which therefore requires a global solution.”
r

r

Dunn said the ICO recognizes this problem
r

and, in the meantime, is appealing to members of the Internet community
r

to do their part by getting ISPs and companies to put appropriate
r

filters in place.
r

r

The ICO won’t confirm how many complaints
r

it has received since the law took effect, but Dunn said the number is
r

in the hundreds. She said the organization was expecting the increase
r

in complaints it receives and was well prepared for the task.
r

Typical complaints are from members of
r

the general public, concerned about their residential email addresses.
r

Their complaints have varied from those about the quantity of spam, to
r

its content or specific companies. Sometimes, she says, complaints are
r

made about legitimate companies that are still working to comply with
r

the law.
r

r

The UK’s anti-spam took effect December
r

13. It is based on an EC directive on privacy and electronic
r

communications that obliges member states to introduce their own
r

anti-spam laws.
r

The deadline for the introduction of
r

these laws was October, but only the UK and five other EU countries
r

have so far implemented regulations.
r

r

Email users who wish to file complaints against spammers can do so at the ICO site.
r

r

r

r

No related posts.