Posted: 27th Mar, 2003 By: MarkJ
The UK government has today announced new proposals to force companies into seeking permission
before they send junk e-mails (SPAM) and text messages.
The Department of Trade and Industry (D.T.I) estimates that 40% of all e-mails are unwanted:
Under the proposals people would have to "opt in" to receive advertising by email or mobile phone, for instance by ticking a box on promotional material.
Companies would also have to make clear when they are using "cookies" or other software which tracks which pages on an Internet website a user has visited and what purchases they make.Present laws allow the 'opt out' method, which means that you can only remove yourself AFTER the message has been sent. This is largely pointless because the damage is already done after the mail is sent and 90% of the time the REMOVE system doesnt work.
Unfortunately SPAMMERS aren't likely to take the least bit of notice, not to mention the problem of identify whether a legitimate person has REQUESTED the message to be sent in the first place or not. More @
Ananova.