Fighting malware and spam

New Zealand passes anti-spam law

As bulk emailing is regulated in NZ, Canada hears calls for similar laws.

The New Zealand government announced last week the final passing of a law to control spam originating in the country, which is expected to come into force in six months' time. The law covers mobile phone text message and instant message spam as well as email, and promises 'significant penalties' for contravening spammers.

Once the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 becomes law, most likely in September, New Zealanders wishing to send bulk emails will have to abide by standard rules regarding information disclosure and availability of opt-out functions. The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, which will be in charge of enforcing the rules, will have powers to prosecute spammers and will provide reporting services for spam victims to contact them regarding spam campaigns. More details, including excerpts from the Act and an FAQ, can be found at New Zealand Internet body InternetNZ, here.

New Zealand's Internet naming controllers are also hoping to improve online security in the region, with an attempt to introduce a dedicated domain for banks. The idea of a .bank.nz domain, closely monitored to ensure it can only be used by genuine financial institutions, has twice failed to achieve sufficient support, but this third attempt hopes to benefit from a change to the rules regarding the registration of new domains, allowing for a committee decision rather than a public vote. The move is intended to reduce the risk from phishing using spoofed sites with addresses visibly similar to genuine banks.

Meanwhile in Canada, an important government official has issued a strong call for spam regulations to be introduced. Jennifer Stoddart, Canada's Privacy Commissioner, made the call at the launch of a national fraud awareness month, criticising Canada's position as the only G8 nation without anti-spam laws and saying the government needed to 'act strongly' to fight the spam menace.

09 March 2007

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