Closing The Lid On Spam

Anti-spam legislation has always been envisaged as part of a multi-faceted approach to a problem which now accounts for a significant proportion of all electronic mail traffic. But, Belinda Barclay, an associate with the Christchurch Lawlink firm of Wynn Williams & Co asks, what will the proposed anti-spam Bill do for New Zealand businesses and what should they be doing now?

A European Union study suggests that the worldwide cost of spam to internet subscribers is in the vicinity of 10 billion Euros a year. An American study estimated in 2003 that spam is costing US$874 a year per office worker with an email account.

In New Zealand, ihug stopped 5.1 million spam emails in September 2003 and 6.5 million in November that year. Undoubtedly, the numbers are higher now. Spam accounts for 75% of the email received by ihug customers using its spam filter.