[Politech] Update on California, Australia anti-spam laws [spam]

From: Declan McCullagh (declan@private)
Date: Tue Sep 23 2003 - 20:50:22 PDT

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    From: "Steelhead" <bill@ries-knight.net>
    To: <politech@private>, <declan@private>
    Subject: More on spam from California Re: A few more replies on merits of 
    House anti-spam bill
    Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 20:06:51 -0700
    
    The California Legislators have done a spam bill... and the governor has
    signed it.  Will it hold up to court scrutiny?  I added many emails to the
    fight for a good spam bill and it seems the perspective I hold was followed
    somewhat well.
    
         ....
         This bill would authorize the recipient of a commercial e-mail
         advertisement transmitted in violation of these prohibitions, the
         electronic mail service provider, or the Attorney General to bring an
         action to recover actual damages and would authorize these parties
         to recover liquidated damages of $1,000 per transmitted message up to
         $1,000,000 per incident, as defined, subject to reduction by a court
         for specified reasons.
         ....
    
    http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_0151-0200/sb_186_bill_20030911_enrolled.html
    
    Cable and satellite TV, the no-call list, TiVo, and now no-spam are all
    major impacts to marketing towards targeted audiences with large swipes.
    The avenues for getting to people with advertising is diminishing in quantum
    leaps, and the industry is not going to be pushed any more.  I have spoken
    to many of the Legit commercial emailers over the last several months, and I
    think they will fight this with a test case ASAP.  They are part  of the
    Direct Marketing industry, and there is a need for their services by anyone
    with products looking for a market share.
    
    I expect the challenge will be by a firm outside of California that  will
    dispute the jurisdiction of California Law to control what they can do from
    a state like Delaware which is far more business friendly.
    
    My 2cents
    Bill  Ries-Knight
    Stockton, California.
    
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    Subject: Spammers may face $1m-a-day fines - an Australian perspective
    Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 13:34:48 +1000
    From: "Simon Bedak" <SBB@private>
    To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan@private>
    
    Declan
    
    Saw this in this morning's local news (Syd Morning Herald) and thought
    it might be of interest to the Politech list. The story is about
    proposed legislation to be introduced to the Aust Federal Parliament
    which'll dish out $1m fines per day for unsolicited spam email
    originating within Australia. Can't imagine it'll cause much of a ripple
    in cyberspace, but it might generate publicity here for the reason that
    the understood exemptions are to be Government bodies, political
    parties, charities and religious organisations; each of whom'd be able
    to send as much spam as they like (read "can"). It'll be interesting to
    find out how the legislators define what spam is, together with the
    proposed exemption details. Will keep you posted as details arrive.
    
    Cheerio
    
    Simon Bedak
    Sydney, Australia
    
    
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    Spammers may face $1m-a-day fines
    By Cosima Marriner, Sydney Morning Herald
    18 September, 2003
    
    
    'Spammers" who repeatedly send unsolicited bulk email could be fined up
    to $1 million a day under new anti-spam laws shortly to be introduced
    into Federal Parliament.
    
    But the Government, political parties, charities and religious
    organisations, which are understood to be exempt, would still be able to
    send as much spam as they like.
    
    Estimates suggest spam accounts for half of all emails. The Government
    wants to make it illegal to send unsolicited bulk email within
    Australia.
    Under the laws, businesses will be able to send marketing material only
    to consumers who have already asked to receive those types of emails.
    They will have to include accurate contact details, including the name
    of the business, phone number and physical address, in every bulk email
    sent.
    Businesses that break the law will be liable for fines. Repeat offenders
    could face a maximum $1 million fine for every day they persist in
    sending spam. The industry regulator, the Australian Communications
    Authority, will enforce the law.
    
    The anti-spam laws apply only to unsolicited email that originates
    within Australia.
    
    A local spam-filter company, Spam Trap, estimates 0.5 per cent of global
    spam comes from Australia. A third of the spam comes from the United
    States, 18 per cent from China and 9 per cent from South Korea.
    
    ...
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