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Global
business attacks the spam problem
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| Spam is a headache
for the EU and for business too |
Paris,
24 July 2003
- As spam floods the Internet, the International Chamber of Commerce has
launched a multi-faceted project to tackle the problem.
According to Ayesha
Hassan, ICC's senior policy manager for E-Business, IT and Telecoms, "Business
recognizes that there are no easy, 'one-size-fits-all', solutions. More
effective law enforcement is part of the answer, and so are self-regulation,
consumer awareness and technology that allows Internet users to keep unwanted
spam out of their inboxes."
But business is convinced
that government regulation alone cannot solve the problem, and also believes
that companies must be free to market their wares over the Internet, subject
to compliance with applicable law.
"ICC's initiative
demonstrates that business is prepared to do everything it can to help
alleviate the spam problem", said Ms. Hassan.
Christopher Kuner,
who heads the ICC task force of the protection of personal data, said:
"Business is concerned about governmental solutions that try to tackle
the issue of spam mainly through regulation. Spam is a worldwide problem
and the Internet knows no national borders, so merely adding new layers
of regulation will not by itself solve the problem."
In June, ICC approved
a work programme for tackling spam, comprised of four main elements:
- The ICC Commission
on E-Business, IT and Telecoms plans an educational p
rogramme for ICC
member companies around the world on technical means for reducing harmful
commercial e-mail.
- The commission is
also contacting law enforcement and regulatory agencies to establish how
business and governments can work together to combat fraudulent and illegal
commercial e-mail and text messaging.
- In a further move,
the Commission on Marketing and Advertising is revising the ICC Guidelines
on Advertising and Marketing on the Internet. The guidelines are voluntary
rules for ethical advertising on the Internet with the aim of increasing
government and consumer trust. Announcing the revision, the Commission
said it would "demonstrate that business is providing responsible
self-regulation to forestall the need for restrictive legislation."
ICC advertising codes are used by professional advertising associations
as the basis for national codes of conduct.
- ICC is developing
a separate package of measures to combat the ever-increasing problem of
spam sent to mobile devices.
ICC is also planning
to hold a conference in Paris in the next few months at which businesses
from around the world will explain the solutions they have developed and
are using to combat spam, and will discuss concrete steps that business
can take. On behalf of member companies in more than 130 countries, ICC
has set as its objective: "to preserve the Internet and related technologies
as a powerful advertising medium for companies by differentiating between
legitimate advertising and the harmful business practices used by 'spammers'."
ICC Commission on E-Business,
IT and Telecoms
ICC
Commission on Marketing and Advertising
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