Australia’s war on spam short on funds

New laws to ban spamming within Australia could fall on deaf ears.

The laws, proposed by the National Office Information Economy (NOIE) and launched today by Communications and IT Minister Richard Alston, will have to get past the attorney-general, treasury and a severe war budget before Australians see any relief from inboxes bursting with offers of Viagra and the like.

The legislative plans form the backbone of a national assessment and action plan to counter the spam epidemic currently hitting Australia.

Sources within the report’s consultative process describe the plan as “absolutely critical” to any success in miscreant mail reduction.

Among a wide range of educational and technical countermeasures, the report recommends national legislation to ensure:

– no commercial electronic messaging to be sent without the prior consent of the end user unless there is an existing customer-business relationship;

– all commercial electronic messaging to contain accurate details of the sender’s name and physical and electronic addresses;

– a co-regulatory approach with industry including recognition of appropriate codes of practice;

– appropriate enforcement sanctions.

A spokesman for Alston’s office labelled spam a “menace” to millions of individual users and enterprises; however, he conceded any legal changes are entirely dependent on the political will of other parts of government.

“We’re getting serious about it, both for businesses and the community,” the spokesman said.

Asked whether the minister’s office would throw its full weight behind the report and lobby hard for the legislative recommendations, the spokesman indicated that Senator Alston would have to see how the land lies with more senior parliamentary colleagues. “We have to fully evaluate the proposal(s),” the spokesman said.

Alston’s spokesman also hosed down earlier claims by shadow minister for IT Kate Lundy that the minister would soon resign saying that the minister had a “lot of challenges in front of him”, adding that it was up to the Prime Minister to decide the make-up of portfolios.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now