UK bans spam messages

[Spinner]

Spam has officially been made a criminal offence in the UK, in an attempt to try and stop the flood of unsolicited email messages.

Under the new law, spammers could be fined £5,000 in a magistrates court or an unlimited penalty from a jury.

But they would not be sent to jail, according to the new measures introduced by Communications Minister Stephen Timms.

Spam has become the bane of internet users, with junk messages making up more than half of all e-mails sent.

"It's crucial that people feel safe and have confidence in utilising electronic communication technologies," said Mr Timms.

"These regulations will help combat the global nuisance of unsolicited e-mails and texts by enshrining in law rights that give consumers more say over who can use their personal details. "

The full report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3120628.stm

[Leonardo]

Rule Britannia! Hat's off!

[Thrax]

Let's hope the U.S. follows suit.

[Leonardo]

You know, half of that crap is now coming from Russia, Brazil, and a couple of other countries with either lax regulations or unenforced laws.

[Enverex]

Can you imagine it......

America and Europe DDOS Russia.
Russia invades France........ and there was much rejoicing ..... (yaaay)

Heard about this on the Radio earlier (The spam thing, not Russia invading France). Very much out of the blue, but a very nice move.

NS

[Nixxer]

Its the same with the whole EU, the UK is just following an EU regulation.

[Leonardo]

The whole EU? Outstanding. Oh, maybe not! That may just mean that those slimers will now redouble their efforts directed at North America! :eek2:

It's getting so bad that sometimes 50% of my email is SPAM.

[Spinner]

50%? ha, that's nothing, 90% of all my daily email is spam, and my daily email intake is about 70-80 in total at the moment.