Posted: 20th Aug, 2004 By: MarkJ
The London Internet Exchange's (LINX) new ISP supported policy to close websites owned by SPAMMERS has come in for some criticism from Craig Whitney, Director, EMEA for FrontBridge:
"Unfortunately the new Linx initiative is hamstrung before it leaves the starting blocks - and as an opt-in policy, it lacks sufficient muscle. More than 98 per cent of spam originates from outside the UK. While the London Internet Exchange guidelines are laudable, in reality they will achieve very little. In order to be effective, the new code would need a harmonised international approach, both at EU level and worldwide, and be effectively policed," said Whitney.
"Ultimately, the success or otherwise of this policy depends on whether - and crucially, how quickly - Linx will be able to pressurise ISPs overseas into adopting more rigorous practices. And time is running short - our latest spam figures anticipate that UK spam will be at 90% by December 2005 at the very latest.
"I don't believe that legislation alone - let alone opt-in policies - are enough to combat this rising tidal wave of spam. If you look at other legislative initiatives internationally, such as the US CAN-SPAM act, they have had very limited success in curbing spammers or bringing them to justice. And within the EU we are seeing too many disparate antispam laws being passed, which don't create a unified front for what is a ubiquitous problem.
The legislative stick needs to be coupled with technological brute force to succeed in bringing spam to its knees."