Anti-Spam Legislation

The Government has introduced into Parliament their proposed anti-spam legislation. The bill can be viewed here.

My comments are captured in the press release below:

INTERNETNZ WELCOMES ANTI-SPAM BILL

InternetNZ is delighted the Government has finally introduced proposed anti-spam legislation.

“We have been advocating such legislation since 2003, and congratulate Minister David Cunliffe on this latest step to an anti-spam law” said InternetNZ Acting President David Farrar.

“Anti-spam legislation by itself does not stop spam. However it is a necessary and vital part of the overall fight against spam, by allowing action to be taken against spammers. Education, technical solutions, and international co-operation are also necessary. The good thing about the legislation is it will allow New Zealand to more effectively co-operate with international authorities against overseas based spammers”.

“We urge all parties to support the legislation at the first reading. We are almost the only country in the OECD without legislation, and its lack has hampered our ability to contribute to stopping overseas spammers. The lack of a law has also allowed some New Zealanders to spam, by hiring people based overseas to do so on their behalf”.

“While we support the bill’s introduction, we do have a concern over the proposed enforcement mechanism. We do not believe it is practical for complaints to go via NZ Internet Providers, as in 99% of cases they can do nothing to assist. We will be strongly submitting to the Select Committee that this provision, if not changed, will place an unfair cost on ISPs who already bear a huge cost due to spam”.

“InternetNZ looks forward to the bill being referred to a select committee and detailed consideration of the bill later this year. We may have further comments upon completing a detailed analysis of the bill’s provisions”
concluded David Farrar.