§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government's support for an opt-out procedure for unsolicited commercial e-mails in the revised Telecommunications Data Protection Directive (com2000/189) extends to electronic messages, including(a) short messaging service, (b) mail to WAP phones and (c) other forms of electronic messaging; and what remedies she proposes for the consequent costs incurred by consumers. [3243]
§ Mr. AlexanderThe proposed Communications Data Protection Directive treats all forms of electronic messaging, including text messages to mobile phones, as e-mails, for the purposes of regulatory controls on unsolicited commercial communications.
The UK Government have argued that member states should be allowed to choose between opt-in and opt-out controls on unsolicited commercial e-mail. This approach allows an assessment of the situation in the light of working experience of both approaches by the deadline for implementing the new directive.