EU puts its foot down with spam

The EU's anti-spam directive is now officially in force – but is anyone listening? Despite the fact that the directive covers all countries in the European Union, only four countries are in line with its provisions already, the EC has said.

The rules are governing spam and privacy came into force on 1 November as part of the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, but only Austria, Denmark, Italy and Sweden are actually compliant with the directive at the moment.

As well as putting in place 'standards for the protection of privacy and electronic data in electronic communications', the directive aims to put a 'ban on spam' across the Europe.

Among the new protections Europeans can look forward to are restrictions on cookies and spyware, which can only be utilised if the user is aware they are there, what they do and have a right to refuse them.

Among the anti-spam provisions that will take effect under the directive is the need for email marketers to receive prior consent from anyone they send advertising emails to – the oft-discussed 'third party opt-in' – as well as a ban on spoofing sender addresses and providing fake return addresses. The third party opt-in rule will also apply to marketers sending out advertising via text messages and other electronic media.

Erkki Liikanen, the European Commissioner responsible for enterprise and information society, said in a statement that the directive was "a key tool to strengthen consumer confidence in the internet and electronic communications, which is a prerequisite for the success of ecommerce and, indeed, the information society".

While the directive is now enforce across the Union, each country does have a degree of independence in its spam regime. Member states can, for example, choose whether or not to unsolicited commercial email to businesses.

It's also up to the individual member states to enforce the directive and decide how to punish the wrongdoers – but spammers are unlikely to be quaking in their boots just yet, given most of them like in the sunny city of Boca Raton, Florida.

However, the US has got its own spam fight under way already. Last month, a bill designed to put an end to unsolicited bulk email received an official stamp of approval from the Senate.