Newsmedianews

Wednesday 3rd September 2003
launch of anti-spam Bill in bid to eliminate costly nuisance e-mails
spam costing Irish business up to €188 million each year
Spam is a cause of considerable irritation for computer users, but perhaps more importantly it costs Irish business almost €200 million every year, according to Simon Coveney TD, Fine Gael spokesman on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. spam is the main factor assisting the spread of computer viruses that force Irish business to spend a fortune constantly upgrading their anti-virus software.

"This Bill will require Internet Service Providers to filter and reduce spam e-mails and it also makes it an offence to send commercial text messages. This will help to reduce the rapid spread of viruses by filtering out mass-produced commercial e-mails. One virus after another has invaded PCs across the globe in recent weeks, causing untold damage and adding to the cost of the fight against Internet crime.

"The top 1,100 companies in Ireland employ 574,679 people, or an average of 509 people in each company. A recent UK study estimated the cost of spam to businesses at €57,000 per year for those employing more than 500 people. If the same costs were to reasonably apply in Ireland then the top 1,100 companies would face a cost of €62.7 million per year. With twice this number of people employed in the economy in smaller companies the cost to business across the economy comes to a total of €188 million.

"Communications Minister Dermot Ahern indicated this summer that he is open to introducing legislation to control spam. Today I am launching Fine Gael's draft bill which we feel can deal comprehensively with this problem. I would urge Minister Ahern to take our Bill on board by introducing legislation this autumn."

COMMUNICATIONS REGULATION (ANTI-spam) BILL 2003
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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Introduction It is widely recognised that spam represents a substantial cost for businesses' around the world. A recent EU study estimates that spamming results in lost productivity of at least €10 billion worldwide annually. Equally, it represents a sizeable problem for Irish businesses and could legitimately be described as a hindrance to the development of business in this country.

The growth of spam has increased dramatically in recent years and has now become problematic on e-mail accounts as well as on cellular phones.

Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of this Bill is to prohibit the sending of unwanted commercial e-mails and text messages.

The responsibility for ensuring that the Bill is implemented will be vested in the Commission for Communications Regulation, which was established in 2002. Provisions of the Bill The Bill is divided into 5 parts. Part 1 deals with preliminary matters; Part 2 deals with e-mail spam and Part 3 deals with text message spam. Part 4 confers additional functions on the Commission for Communications Regulation. Part 5 of the Act deals with the Minister's power to make regulations and the prosecution of offences.

Section 2 defines a number of terms, including " e-mail" , " internet service provider", and " text message" .

Section 3 defines and unsolicited e-mail (spam) as being an e-mail which carries an advertisement, sexually oriented material or a virus or which is designed to affect computer servers. For legislative purposes, this definition is more broad than the meaning attributed to the word spam in common usage.

Section 4 makes it an offence to send e-mail spam or to use a computer to send spam or to collect e-mail addresses for spam.

Section 5 is intended to ensure that those who expressly request or authorise spam can continue to receive e-mail of that nature. Every spam type e-mail must contain an " opt-out facility" which allows the recipient to withdraw his or her authorisation to receive such e-mails.

Section 6 places an obligation on internet service providers to utilise technology to filter spam. This section also imposes a strict requirement of privacy on internet service providers so as to ensure that the content of e-mails cannot be disclosed. In addition, this section indemnifies the internet service providers against any legal action for the inadvertent deletion of legitimate e-mails.

Section 7 defines a " commercial text message" as being an unsolicited text message which is comprised of advertisements or other material which the recipient must pay for.

Section 8 makes it an offence to send text message spam or to use a phone or computer to send such messages.

Section 9 is intended to ensure that those who expressly request or authorise spam text messages can continue to receive them. Every spam type text message must contain an " opt-out facility" which, in accord with section 2 of the Bill allows the recipient to withdraw his or her authorisation by sending a message to that effect free of charge.

Section 10 recognises that the problem of spam is an international one and that the ultimate resolution of the problem of spam lies at the co-ordination of national initiatives at an international level. Accordingly, this section obliges the Commission for Communications Regulation to participate with anti-spam initiatives at an international level.

Section 11 confers responsibility for the provisions of this Act in the Commission for Communications Regulation which was established in 2002. Section 12 allows the Minister to make regulations to ensure that this act is fully effective.

Section 13 imposes financial and custodial penalties for breaches of sections 4 or 8 of the Bill.

Section 14 allows the Commission to prosecute summary offences under the Bill.

see also ‘spam White Paper’ published [zip file]

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