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ACCC
Joins Global Fight Against Spam - 30th January 2004
Credit:
Sydney Morning Herald
Australia
is joining a major fight against junk email to help
slash the amount of unsolicited messages clogging
up computer systems around the world.
The
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
said today it had joined a campaign led by the US
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help prevent organisations
from unwittingly sending junk emails, or spam.
Twenty-six
countries are taking part in the campaign, called
Operation Secure Your Server, and have already found
tens of thousands of computer operators which could
be sources of spam.
"International
cooperation is going to play an important role in
combating spam, as this project clearly demonstrates,"
ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.
"Moreover,
government cannot solve the spam problem on its own;
everyone with an internet connection must do their
part to make sure that they are part of the solution
and not part of the problem."
As
part of the campaign to cut junk mail, computer owners
are being urged to close their open mail relays.
Those
types of servers allow any computer in the world to
"bounce" or route email through servers
of other organisations, resulting in the real origin
of the email being disguised.
The
ACCC said people sending spam emails use those servers
to flood the internet with unwanted email messages,
causing some computer systems to overload.
The
Australian Communications Authority, which was behind
Australia's new anti-spam laws which come into force
on April 11, is also taking part in the campaign.
The
Spam Act 2003 prohibits sending, or causing to be
sent, unsolicited commercial emails which have an
Australian link.
Companies
caught sending spam face fines of up to $1.1 million
a day.
Businesses
can find out how to protect their computers from sending
spam at a new
web site set up by America's Federal Trade Commission.
Links:
Sydney
Morning Herald Online
Federal
Trade Commission
Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission
Articles
When
Will Spam Be Banned
Other
Mediaman: Technology News
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