EU Anti-Spam Measures Face Uphill Struggle

Thirteen European Union countries have agreed to boost cooperation to tackle unsolicited commercial email, aka junk email and spam. The thirteen are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, and Spain. European Commission yesterday, the countries' antispam authorities have pledged to exchange information on email system abuses and to follow up on complaints about spammers operating on their territory from other countries. The move is designed to tackle the problem where spammers operate outside the territory of the member state that has received a complaint about abusive email, InfoWorld says, and the national enforcement agency cannot act because it lacks legal powers to take action in another member state. a report in the EU Observer yesterday. The Observer quotes EU Information Society and Media Commissioner International Telecommunication Union". She also encouraged authorities from all other EU member states to join the agreement, the Observer said. However, it's difficult to see how any measures will produce any really successful outcomes. A New York Times report (reg required) on 1 February says that the CAN-SPAM Act in the US has had little impact in stopping spammers in that country. Entitled The Register says that MCI for hosting a website selling spamming software that is allegedly integral to the illegal trade in compromised PCs. The site sells spamware called Send Safe which uses broadband-connected PCs infected by viruses such as NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.

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