The Hindu : E.U. gears to fight spamming

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

International

International

E.U. gears to fight spamming

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, FEB. 4. Millions of people in the European Union are worried about the spread of the latest computer virus, MyDoom. This week, the U.S. software giant, Microsoft, declared a reward of $250,000 for anyone giving a clue on the creator of the computer virus.

In a related development, the E.U. has urged the United States to adopt tougher enforcement measures against spamming. The E.U. has banned spam mail, but citizens and corporate entities in the Union are nevertheless, inundated with unsolicited e-mail. Estimates are that some 53 per cent of the e-mail traffic in the 15 member states of the Union is "unsolicited commercial bulk e-mail" or spam. Although the E.U. has 12 official languages, 80 per cent of the spam traffic is in English and most of it originates from the U.S., where spam accounts for 60 per cent of the e-mail traffic.

The 30-nation Organisation for Economic Development and Co-Operation (O.E.C.D), which represents the world's most developed countries, is scheduled to meet this week in Brussels when it proposes to draw up an agenda for tougher international law enforcement to curb the cyber menace. However, much attention is currently focused on cooperation with authorities in the U.S. to contain the problem.

The E.U. and the U.S., the world's two largest trading blocs, have different spam laws. The current strategy is to bring about a commonality between the two. Australia, Canada and Switzerland have adopted the E.U.'s approach while Japan, Mexico and South Korea are following the U.S. legal pattern to counter the cyber menace.

The chairman of European Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email will coordinate its efforts with the Federal Trade Commissioner's court in the U.S. to seek ways to tackle the problem amid the realisation that Americans are currently the "principal victims'' of spam.

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