Ireland gets tough on spam

Irish Data Protection Commissioner Joe Meade is calling on other European countries to follow his lead and get tough on spam - despite widespread public concerns about the effectiveness of anti-spam legislation.

Speaking at an EEMA conference in Dublin, entitled 'Spam - The Death of Email' Meade set out tough measures to crack down on unsolicited email and made clear his intention to enforce them, calling spam "a major intrusion on our privacy".

Meade spoke of his right to fine spammers €3,000 per message and said he had no qualms about "exercising these powers when required".

Some government have been slow to draft anti-spam legislation and the US in particular has been criticised for its 'chocolate teapot' polices - despite being the source of more spam than any other country.

"It's not my place to suggest what US government should be doing," said Meade, though he stated that there is still much work to be done on both sides of the Atlantic if legislation is to play any part in the anti-spam effort.

Most contentious is the failure of the US and Europe to agree in an opt-in or opt-out standard.

Claire Wardle, legal services director at the Royal Mail, also speaking at the conference, said: "Let's face it. Us culture is so completely different to our. We're not going to see a harmonisation of laws."

"Laws vary from the Draconian to non-existent," she added, though conceding there is "no effective action [which can be taken] against hardcore spammers".

Phil Jones, the UK's assistant information commissioner, accepted that even UK legislation is "a little inconsistent" - especially regarding the controversial distinction between business and personal email - though rejected the suggestion that policy has no part to play in the tech-led war on spam.