Spam: An Examination of Private and Legislative Responses to Unsolicited Electronic Mail in Australia and the United States
AbstractThe paper proposes a definition of spam and discuss the problems caused by spam. Both private and legislative approaches, which have been used to address the spam problem are reviewed, that is, technical measures, regulatory and self-regulatory strategies, litigation under existing legislation, common law theories, and US anti-spam legislation specifically targeting spam. The Australian Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and the current legislative regime relevant to spam control are also discussed, followed by a summary of relevant Australian case law. Lastly, problems of enforcement and jurisdiction are discussed. The author concludes that current measures to counter the spam problem are inadequate and an international approach is necessary because spam is generally impervious to national boundaries. |