Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, outlined today in Brussels how the Commission is planning to address the proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mail.
Given the adoption last year of a directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, Member States have to transpose measures against spam into national legislation by the end of October 2003 – albeit critics note that the so-called ban contains significant loopholes.
As a second step, the European Commission expects a Communication on spam to be adopted in the autumn. Concrete action, it says, would focus on effective enforcement, notably through international co-operation, technical measures for countering spam, and consumer awareness.
The proposed measures would be first tested with Member States and interested parties through a workshop to be convened in October.
Erkki Liikanen said:
"We must act before users of e-mails or SMS stop using the internet or mobile services, or refrain from using it to the extent that they otherwise would".
The Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications promises a 'ban on spam' to individuals. It is due to be implemented across Europe by 31st October 2003.
With a limited exception covering existing customer relationships, e-mail marketing is only allowed with prior consent. This so-called 'opt-in' regime equally covers SMS messages and other electronic messages received on any mobile or fixed terminal.
However, the Directive gives Member States the option to ban unsolicited commercial e-mails to businesses – and that's an option which the UK Government plans to reject, according to its draft implementing law which recently completed a period of public consultation.
The problem is that, while the Commission is talking about the enormous cost of spam to businesses, the UK approach might only encourage spam to company e-mail addresses.
Since much spam comes from outside the EU, international co-operation is a key element of the Commission's response. During a visit to the US Federal Trade Commission in June, Commissioner Liikanen stressed the need for a global approach to the global problem. He also offered today to host an OECD workshop on spam early in 2004 to convene experts from around the world.