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Canning Spam
December 2005 | Intellectual Property & Technology | IP Edge

One of the most significant and rampant problems enabled by widespread use of the Internet is spam, also known as unsolicited commercial e-mail messages. Most of us receive spam, some even lose money to the bogus offers contained in spam, and many productive hours are lost each year in dealing with this major annoyance. Recognising the international dimensions and magnitude of the spam problem, Singapore has stepped up efforts in a bid to do her part to counter this complex and multi-faceted global problem. To this end, The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore ("IDA") has worked closely with key stakeholders to develop a multi-pronged approach to curb e-mail spam in Singapore consisting of the following facets.

Public Education
Various anti-spam initiatives have recently been introduced in the form of awareness drives and promotions to increase public awareness of the impact of spam and protection against it. These measures seek to educate the public and business organisations on the available resources, anti-spam measures and the proposed legislative framework to curb its proliferation. More details may be found at the national anti-spam repository website known as the Singapore Anti-Spam Resource Centre.

Industry Self-Regulation
Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") in Singapore have jointly established anti-spam guidelines to reduce e-mail spam for their subscribers. These guidelines are based on the opt-out regime of spam protection, allowing subscribers to register their preference not to receive e-mail spam.

Proposed Legislation
IDA has, in collaboration with the Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore, issued a second public consultation paper to gather feedback on the draft Spam Control Bill for Singapore which provides increased clarity on what constitutes spam.

The proposed Spam Control Bill seeks to curb the proliferation of spam, including mobile spam, which refers to unsolicited, commercial electronic messages sent to any mobile telecommunication devices, but excluding unsolicited fax transmissions and telemarketing.

As part of Singapore's legal measures to manage mobile spam, the draft Bill also proposes that anyone who suffers damages or loss arising from spam be given the right to initiate legal action against spammers who do not adhere to specific requirements for the sending of bulk e-mail and mobile messages, or who send spam the use of dictionary attacks and address harvesting software. If found guilty, non-compliant spammers can be directed by the court to stop their spamming activities or pay statutory damages of up to SGD 1 million to the affected parties.

International Cooperation
In the final analysis, the abovementioned measures will only be as effective as the resolve of other countries around the world to control spam. Singapore recognises this inherent limitation and the reality that no single country can fight this global battle alone. As part of an international effort to urge worldwide organisations to protect their servers and computer systems from misuse, Singapore actively participates in initiatives and forums with other countries and international organisations to do her part in addressing the spam problem.