Spammers hit hard by Aussie Act
Spammers hit hard by Aussie Act
The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) has claimed a huge victory in its war against spammers, citing that many major Australian-based spammers have closed down since the Spam Act 2003 unleashed its power in April this year.
Acting ACA Chairman, Dr. Bob Horton, said that the ACA had received about 30,000 reports of spam, including more than 300 formal complaints since the Act was released.
He added that many spammers reacted to a warning issued in late March about the consequences of failing to comply with the Act. "The ACA's initial focus was on spammers allegedly sending high volumes of offensive unsolicited material including pornography and marketing for products such as herbal Viagra.
"At the end of the first three months of the Spam Act it appears that these particular major players have stopped operating in Australia because complaints about them stopped when the Act came in on 10 April."
Horton said that Spamhaus, the well-known international anti-spam watchdog confirmed these reports, and as recently as last week, it stated that there has been little if any activity by major Australian-based spammers sending out offensive material since the warning was issued.
As a result of complaints made to the ACA, it has contacted more than 100 businesses advising them to improve their email and SMS marketing practices to comply with the Act.
"Most of the complaints we receive are about businesses continuing to send commercial messages to a recipient who has tried to unsubscribe.
"Clearly many businesses still need to test and fix their unsubscribe feature."
Horton added that many companies have responded well to the ACA's advice, but it is still investigating several cases where responses to warnings have been unsatisfactory. Four formal notices have been sent to parties under investigation.
Businesses that fail to comply can be fined thousands of dollars by the ACA, or they can be prosecuted with penalties up to $1.1 million per day for repeat offenders.
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