Australian authorities are beefing up the country’s fight against spam e-mail with a new code of practice for internet service providers and e-mail companies, officials said on Tuesday.
The code of practice comes on top of an anti-spam law passed in 2004 that mandates fines of up to Aus$1,1-million ($780 000) for people sending unsolicited e-mail.
The code, drawn up by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, orders ISPs to offer spam filtering options to customers and provide a system for handling complaints.
They also will have to impose reasonable limits on the amount of e-mail that subscribers can send.
ACMA anti-spam team manager Bruce Matthews said the watchdog could seek Federal Court fines of up to Aus$10-million ($7,8-million) for companies found breaching the code after it comes into force in July. – Sapa-AP