EU Says More Than Half E-Mails Are Spam

[KiwiCoromandel]

Unsolicited e-mails continue to plague Europeans and account for between 50 and 80 percent of all messages sent to mail inboxes, the European Commission said Monday.

EU Media Commissioner Viviane Reding called on EU governments to step up their fight against spam, spyware and other illegal online activities and implement EU rules to improve Internet safety.

An EU report found that only two EU nations _ the Netherlands and Finland _ were making inroads in enforcing the 2002 law to crack down on spam.

"Spam is still ... making up to between 50 and 80 percent of the mails that we are receiving in Europe and two-thirds of that is coming from outside the European Union," said EU spokesman Martin Selmayr.

Selmayr said Dutch authorities were able to reduce spam by 85 percent by using fines to get businesses to fall in line with the EU rule.

The Dutch telecommunications watchdog OPTA slapped euro60,000 ($78,500) in fines on three companies late last year for sending spam, and the Commission wants other governments to act as well, Reding said.

"I'd like to see other countries achieving similar results through more efficient enforcement," she said in a statement.

EU officials have said they will put forward new legislation next year to make it easier to prosecute spammers.

Monday's EU report said spam cost euro39 billion ($51.1 billion) worldwide last year, according to San Francisco-based Ferris Research Institute.

Selmayr said the biggest culprit of spam remains the United States, which accounts for 21.6 percent of spam coming into the 25-nation EU. China is the second-biggest producer with 13.4 percent, while EU member France is third with 6.3 percent.

source:© 2006 AP DIGITAL

image:www.cbc.ca:SPAM...EU says that more than half of EMAIL traffic is SPAM...

[slum_goddess]

last month, someone hijacked my domain and the thousands of bounces back totally disabled my mail client. this is something that happens to everyone sooner or later (chris told me there was nothing i could do about it but use my webmail and wait it out). at least half the mails i get everyday are spam and bounces now...i could KILL. (he told me to get on the queue cause there's thousands of people w/domains ahead of me).

fucking spammers (not meaning you, Dude). but if stupid people didn't click on unknown links in the first place, this shit wouldn't happen as often.