Yahoo! News – EU Launches Anti-Spam Campaign, Seeks Tough Action

Thu Jan 22, 1:47 PM ET

By Lisa Jucca
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union (news – web sites) governments should toughen sanctions against junk e-mails that now account for half of global Internet mail traffic, the EU Commission said in a policy document on Thursday.

"Spam," unsolicited e-mails, is now evolving from a vehicle for pornography or bogus financial offers to more sophisticated operations including electronic "identity theft" where internet users' personal details are intercepted and used for fraud.

The EU tried to fight the problem by introducing a ban on unsolicited e-mails in 2002, but the EU law is weakly enforced and several countries have not yet introduced it at national level.

"Although legislation will deter some spam, legislation alone will not be sufficient," the Commission said in its action plan against spam, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

"Member states and competent authorities should… create adequate possibilities for victims to claim damages and provide for real sanctions, including financial and criminal penalties where appropriate," said the paper, to be unveiled next week.

Consumer groups have criticized EU member Britain for passing an anti-spam law that carries a maximum penalty of just 5,000 pound ($9,225) for spammers.

Experts say this is no deterrent. According to anti-spam group The Spamhaus Project, Britain joined Spamhaus's top ten list of spamming countries in December.

"This is a bargain for spammers. Some of them make 20,000 to 30,000 pounds per week," Steve Linford, founder of the Spamhaus Project told Reuters recently.

In the United States, Internet giant America Online was awarded almost seven million dollars in damages in a spam case.

SPAM SCARE

"Spam has reached worrying proportions," the Commission said. "At present, there is a risk that users of e-mails or SMS simply stop using e-mails or mobile services, or refrain from using it to the extent that they otherwise would."

The Commission is urging business to introduce a code of conduct that bans certain practices.

Aware that most of the spam comes from outside the EU, the Commission suggests member states work internationally to root out "spam havens."

"You have to prosecute the spammers where they are," said Philippe Wacker, Secretary General of the European Multimedia Forum, which represents companies from the digital media sector.

"If someone is based in Belize, the only way to tackle the problem is by putting pressure on the countries concerned like you do with money-laundering and terrorism."

(Additional reporting by Bernhard Warner in London)

($1=.5420 Pound)