New Zealand's Anti-Spam Act Starts Soon

New Zealand's new anti-spam law takes effect September 5th, 2007.

The law intended to eliminate spam is referred to as the Unsolicited Electronic Messages (UEM) Act. I think CAN-SPAM sounds better.

The core of the law is that senders must have the consent of the recipient to send them email. Senders must not obscure their email address and provide contact information. They must also provide a way for receivers to be removed from any lists free of charge.

Legal information about the bill is available here.

While this law seems more aggressive than the United State's anti-spam legislation does, one still has to be skeptical as to its effect. Spam email blocker software has consistently proven more effective at keeping the problem under control. Using such programs can have the cumulative effect of making spam less profitable, and perhaps even discouraging it from being sent in the first place.

Fines for violating the act can reach up to a half-million dollars for an organization. The maximum penalty is capped at $200,000 for individuals. The email sender can also be held accountable up to a larger amount corresponding to the actual damages caused by the email sent.

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