Privacy groups slam 'revised' spam rules

The UK government's plan to ease regulations on unsolicited 'spam' email has today been met with angry reactions from privacy groups.

An announcement from the DTI stating that it will rely on ISPs to regulate themselves, with the help of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), provoked an outcry amongst privacy groups who claim that as spam becomes a greater problem, the government will be forced to re-think its decision.

Speaking to silicon.com, Ian Brown, technical policy adviser at Privacy International, said: "The UK is behind the US when it comes to spamming practices, but once it takes off in Europe, consumers will be calling for help.

"Spam is very cheap for companies to send, as the cost of spam falls to the consumer buying time from ISPs. No one seems to be taking responsibility on spam which allows companies to misbehave and even outsource their mass emailing operations to countries outside the voluntary regulations."

Privacy activist, Caspar Bowden of internet think-tank the Foundation of Information Policy Research, claimed the government's decision will slow down the development of ecommerce in the UK. He said: "Consumers will be wary about revealing their email addresses - this will have the effect of pouring sand into the gearbox of ecommerce"

The DTI believes ISPs will be able to employ the DMA effectively in the fight against spam. Customers who do not want to receive unsolicited email can register their objections with the DMA and they will be added to a database which companies wishing to act ethically can access for a $100 per year charge.

A source close to the Internet Service Provider Association said the amount of spam currently received is relatively small.

He said: "We don't get much spam at the moment. ISPs do self-regulate as we have a world wide co-operation, and it is working."