§ Michael FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what legislative measures her Department proposes to take against spam; and if she will make a statement on the estimated cost of spam to British businesses. [176612]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Government have implemented the EU Directive on Electronic Communications by introducing the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations in December 2003 under which the sending of unsolicited direct marketing (spam) e-mails to individual subscribers is prohibited. For corporate subscribers the regulations are slightly different. Direct marketing companies are required to ensure that the identify of the sender is clearly stated in the e-mail with a valid address, which the recipient can use to request that further e-mails are not sent to them.
The Government do not have an estimate of the cost to British business of unsolicited direct marketing (spam) e-mails. The UK is involved in a current exercise conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which aims to develop better techniques for measuring spam and estimating its impact.