OECD wants global push to stop the scourge of spam

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 23 April 2006 19:27

IT Industry - Strategy

See also: ISPs now required to take steps against spam
82% of legitimate marketers cite email filtering as problem 

The OECD has urged governments and industry to adopt a more co-ordinated approach to battling spam, saying it has become damaging and costly for business and  a regular weapon in the arsenal of cyber criminals.

"Spam is dangerous and costly for business and consumers. It disrupts networks, cuts productivity, spreads viruses and is increasingly used by criminals who steal passwords to access confidential information and often bank accounts.," the OECD says.

The OECD has launched an Anti-Spam Toolkit, available online at www.oecd-antispam.org, that "gives policymakers a comprehensive package of concrete regulatory approaches, technical solutions, and industry initiatives to fight spam".

The Toolkit includes a guide to best practices for Internet service providers and other network operators, and for email marketing. These were produced by the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC), the business advisory group to the OECD, in co-operation with the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG), an organisation of Internet service providers.

It also recommends that lessons on spam and Internet security be included in computer courses for schools and for senior citizens.

According to the OECD, "this is the first effort by the private sector to develop a series of common best practices at the international level". And it notes that international co-operation will be key to solving the spam problem. "Spam moves between countries and investigators have to follow the flow across borders to track spammers".

To address this, OECD governments have approved a "Recommendation on Cross-Border Co-operation in the Enforcement of Laws against Spam", urging countries to ensure that their laws enable enforcement authorities to share information with other countries quickly and effectively. It also calls on each country to "establish a single national contact point to facilitate international cooperation".

The OECD says there is no single solution to the spam problem but if governments and the private sector "act fast on a number of fronts...establish clear national anti-spam policies and give enforcement authorities more power and resource," they can do much to mitigate the problem. "Co-ordination and co-operation between public and private sectors are critical."