EU anti-Spam laws come into force in the UK

12.00.00am GMT Wed 10th Dec 2003

As of tomorrow, it will be illegal for UK companies to send unsolicited commercial email to individuals unless they are already customers or have given their permission. If they break the law, they could be fined £5000.

Bill Newton Dunn, Liberal Democrat Euro MP for the East Midlands, who was rapporteur on the EU's 'Safer use of the Internet' package, welcomed the new law:

Inboxes like this are set to become a thing of the past thanks to EU action

"The amount of Spam entering people's inboxes has been rapidly multiplying in recent years. Electronic junk mail is an increasing annoyance to people and businesses in the East Midlands, and threatens to cripple our electronic communication systems.

"Spam now makes up 50% of global email traffic and causes huge losses in productivity. Businesses across the European Union lost an estimated €2.5 billion in this way in 2002.

"Action must be taken internationally as Spam originates from all over the world. Britain now joins Denmark, Spain, Italy, Austria and Sweden in having transposed this legislation. Other EU Member States must quickly do the same. It is vital that we also work with countries beyond the European Union to develop an effective global approach to combat this growing problem."

ENDS