The Spam Bill (2003) -
A Symposium
hosted by
Baker & McKenzie
Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre
UNSW Faculty of Law, Sydney, Australia
Thursday 16 October 2003
[Note: the Spam Act and Spam
(Consequential Amendments) Act 2003
were passed unamended by the Senate on 2 December 2003.
They come into full operation 120 days after the date of
assent on 12 December, in mid April 2004.]
Media coverage of Australian Spam
Act 2003
'Using tech to slice spam', Stefanie Olsen, ZDNet, 23 March
2004
http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight/software/0,39023769,39116680,00.htm
'Spam bill passed', Chris Jenkins, The Australian IT
section, 2 December 2003
australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8042699%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
'Spam Bills pass through Senate as Democrats, ALP brawl',
Patrick Gray, ZDNet Australia, 28 November 2003
www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000048590,20281462,00.htm
'Labor to concede Spam Bill amendments', Julian Bajkowski, Computerworld,
5 November 2003
www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=635434243
'Getting to grips with spam - the Australian government proposes
new anti-spam legislation', Mimi Curran, Findlaw,
November 2003
www.findlaw.com.au/articles/default.asp?task=read&id=10692&site=LE
'Australia and Korea sign spam MoU', FindLaw, 21
October 2003
www.findlaw.com.au/news/default.asp?task=read&id=17089&site=LE
'ACA gets $300k to fight spam', CIO magazine article
www.cio.com.au/index.php?id=1790816413
'Democrats to seek changes in anti-spam bill', Sam Varghese, SMH,
October 13 2003
www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/13/1065917315601.html
Spam
Bills 2003 -
Background Material
Spam Act (2003)
http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/comact/11/6735/top.htm
Spam (Consequential Amendments) Act
(2003)
http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/comact/11/6736/top.htm
Report of Senate consideration of the Bills, 26 November 2003
parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?id=90236&table=journals
Precis and Main
features of the Spam Bill 2003, courtesy
of NOIE.
Inquiry of Senate Committee on Environment,
Communications, Information Technology
and the Arts Legislation, hearing 23 October 2003
www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/spam/index.htm
Submissions to the Senate Committee, by
20 October
www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/spam/submissions/sublist.htm
Report of the Senate Committee, 29 October
2003
www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ecita_ctte/spam/report/index.htm
House of Reps Spam Bill page with links
to Second Reading speeches
parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/browse.aspx?path=Legislation>Current+Bills+by+Title>Spam+Bill+2003
Spam Bill 2003 (Cth) [PDF]
(APH)
parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/Repository/Legis/Bills/Linked/18090301.pdf
Explanatory Memorandum
parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?ID=1527&TABLE=EMS
or scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/ems/0/2003/0/2003092501.htm
Minister Alston's "doorstop" interview, 18
September 2003
www.dcita.gov.au/Article/0,,0_4-2_4008-4_116813,00.html
Spam (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2003
parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?id=1450&table=BILLS
Explanatory Memorandum for the Consequential
Amendments Bill
scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/ems/0/2003/0/2003092307.htm
NOIE's Final Spam Report
www.noie.gov.au/publications/NOIE/spam/final_report/index.htm
EFA's analysis of the Spam
Bill, and a media
report
www.efa.org.au/Publish/spambills2003.html (see
also their submission to Senate)
CAUBE.AU's response to EFA
position
www.caube.org.au/efa-reply.htm
IIA's Spam consumer awareness campaign, Media
release, September 2003
www.iia.net.au/news/090302.html
'Spam Act regulates electronic marketing and builds on Privacy
Act', Privacy
Law Alert, December 2003
D Vaile, "Spam
Canned", Internet Law Bulletin, 6 (2004)
6(9) INTLB 113.
RECENT
INTERNATIONAL SPAM LAWS
ITU international cooperation initiatives - 2004
Background
Worldwide authorities and legislative frameworks addressing
spam
www.itu.int/osg/spu/spam/contributions/Background%20Paper_Building%20frameworks%20for%20Intl%20Cooperation_Annex%201.pdf
Spam in the Information Society: Building frameworks for International
Cooperation
www.itu.int/osg/spu/spam/contributions/Background%20Paper_Building%20frameworks%20for%20Intl%20Cooperation.pdf
Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Enforcement Assistance
in Commercial Email Matters
among the following Agencies of the United States, the United
Kingdom, and Australia [implies acceptance of US opt out standard]
www.ftc.gov/os/2004/07/040630spammoutext.pdf
EU Directive, in force 31
October 2003
EU Directive 2002/58/EC (Directive on privacy and
electronic communications), 12 July 2002
europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2002/l_201/l_20120020731en00370047.pdf
"EU directive on direct marketing takes effect Friday",
Scarlett Pruit, IDG, in TechWorld, 30 October 2003
www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=displaynews&NewsID=600
"Direct Marketing: EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic
Communications", Spratt Endicott, July 2003
www.sprattendicott.co.uk/news/0307-marketing.html
The Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (2002/58/EC),
UK Dept of trade and Industry, undated.
www.dti.gov.uk/industries/ecommunications/directive_on_privacy_electronic_communications_200258ec.html
USA's CAN-SPAM Act,
Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography
and Marketing Act, 22 October 2003 (A bill
to regulate interstate commerce by imposing limitations
and penalties on the transmission of unsolicited commercial
electronic mail via the Internet), or the CAN-SPAM
Act of 2003
www.spamlaws.com/federal/108s877.html and
thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.877:
'US Spam bill changes passed', Ted Bridis, AP/The Australian IT
section, 26 November 2003
australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7984075%5E15318%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html
(US Spam bill to be consolidated by House of Reps) "Tauzin
Announces Agreement On Historic Anti-Spam Bill", The House
Committee on Energy and Commerce, ChairmanW.J. "Billy" Tauzin,
21 November 2003
energycommerce.house.gov/108/News/11212003_1137.htm
'US Senate Approves Weak Spam Bill', EPIC Alert,
23 October 2003
www.epic.org/privacy/junk_mail/spam/
'US Senate gets tough on spam', Ted Bridis, The Australian,
23 October 2003
australianit.news.com.au/common/search_form_handler?SEARCH_ACT=display&story_id=7643832&
TotalPage=1&searchTermIMT=%28spam+bill%29&pageNum=1&resNum=20&searchLog=20031103152842-19187&searchBy=date&Intro=No
California's Spam laws
California Business And Professions Code
Division 7, Part 3, Chapter 1, Article 1.8. 'Restrictions
On Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail Advertisers', approved 24
September 2003
www.spamlaws.com/state/ca1.html
"Calif. Gets Strictest Spam Law in U.S.", Jonathan
Krim, Washington Post, 25 September 2003
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A61170-2003Sep24¬Found=true
'California wins anti-spam case', Maggie Shiels, BBC,
25 October 2003
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3213161.stm
Further materials are posted as they become available.
See also papers
from our CLE conference on
Spam, held 4 December.
Introduction to
this Symposium
The regulation of Spam and other unsolicited electronic messages
raises complex issues. The National Office of the Information
Economy consulted widely and produced a final Report.
The resulting Spam
Bill 2003 (Cth) and a related consequential Bill
amending other Acts were introduced into the House of Representative
in early October. On 8 October the Spam Bill was referred
to a Senate committee, which sought submissions by Monday,
20 October 2003. The matter went before a Senate Committe on
23 October.
As government, advocates and industry attempt to grapple with
these issues, it is useful to consider public interest aspects
of Spam regulation, including justifications for exemptions,
possible unintended effects of enforcement procedures, and
impacts on privacy and other issues.
-
Which parts of the Spam Bill are likely to be effective
and appropriate? Which parts are cause for concern?
-
Will the Spam Bill interfere with legitimate business
communications?
-
Is it a threat to privacy? Are there other unintended
or poorly understood consequences?
-
Are the exemptions for politicians, religious organisations,
charities, and others justified? (Especially in the context
of the similar exemptions from the Privacy Act,
which might otherwise provide some backup remedies)
-
Will the Spam Bill be treated as a model for other countries?
-
Can it work without international cooperation?
This invitation-only symposium canvassed public interest concerns
about the proposed legislative framework in the Spam Bill,
explored queries about how it would work in certain situations,
and encouraged debate on possible refinements.
The Symposium
The Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace
Law and Policy Centre, UNSW Law Faculty, hosted a symposium
to discuss issues surrounding the strengths and weaknesses
of the Spam Bill and encourage debate on possible refinements.
There were two sessions. The first featured presentations
from several expert perspectives to stimulate debate. The second
involved open-ended discussion.
The symposium format offers a unique opportunity to participants
to share insights into this key development in Australian spam
regulation. The event offered a forum for open and free-ranging
discussion to occur between the participants.
Venue
Baker & McKenzie Board
Room, 26th floor
AMP Building,
50 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Participants
Introductory speakers:
Other participants included:
Chair
David Vaile, executive director, Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace
Law and Policy Centre at UNSW
For more details contact:
David Vaile
Executive Director
Baker & McKenzie Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre
T: (02) 9385 3589
F: (02) 9385 1778
E: d.vaile [at] unsw.edu.au
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