Canada launches anti-spam task force

By MARY NERSESSIAN
Globe and Mail Update

Industry Canada introduced an anti-spam task force Tuesday charged with
tackling the onslaught of unsolicited e-mail.

"Spammers have no place in Canada's marketplace", Minister of
Industry Lucienne Robillard said. "Spam volumes are now so large that
they pose a barrier to legitimate e-commerce."

Noting that 19 out of 20 spam e-mails originate outside of Canada, the
Minister said the task force must take a global view. The solution demands
international commitment.

Professor Christina Cavanagh of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the
University of Western Ontario, said she thinks setting up the task force is
a good idea."It gives visibility and legitimacy to the seriousness of
the issue of spam", she said.

The task force is made up of 10 representatives from government, consumer,
marketing and industry groups including the Coalition Against Unsolicited
Commercial E-mail Canada, the Canadian Marketing Association and the
Information Technology Association of Canada. The new group will determine
whether new regulation is required. It will also determine how Canada can
work within an international framework to battle spammers.

"There is no current Canadian legislation that specifically addresses
the problem of spam", Ms. Robillard said, adding that legislation
introduced by other countries, such as the United States, has not proved an
effective deterrent. Prof. Cavanagh suggested the task force should review
the effectiveness of American anti-spam legislation before making new
recommendations.

A survey released by Ipsos-Reid and Forge Marketing Inc. showed the inbox
of the average Canadian will be deluged with about 7,000 unsolicited
e-mails this year, up 60 per cent from last year, The Globe and Mail
reported in March.

In the fall Industry Canada will review the task force's progress. The
group will present its findings in 2005.


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