Andy L

Cambridge

Consultant

Ahem, back to the issue... ,

Technical fixes for spam are only one side of the solution. Law needs to catch up with the use of new technologies.

To send bulk (physical) mail, or send out leaflets, or put up posters in the "real" world, publishers need to include a *genuine* name and contact details. The same should apply to mass mailings on the Internet.

This way if anyone sends mail to people without genuine identification they are committing an offence - which may be additional to offences included in the content of the email.
A $1 fine per unsolicited email sent would be quite a good deterrent, and an incentive for the authorities to track people down.

Without this kind of provision technical fixes to reduce spam lack teeth for dealing with people who find their way around the technology.

This kind of solution also protects bona fide companies with a genuine commercial operation and who enable people to remove themselves from mailing lists.

Safeguards can also be built in to protect people sending individual emails whose identity genuinely needs to be kept secret (e.g. whistle-blowers and people acting in the public interest)

These principles are easy to incorporate into the law of any nation, and do not conflict with the basic right to free speech. They are a pre-requisite for any kind of enforcement action.