13 Apr 2004
Germany proposes jail sentences for spammers
Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party is proposing tough new
sentences for those who send bulk unsolicited commercial email.
Under the proposed sanctions spammers, and companies who use their
services, could be given large fines and even prison sentences for
the worst offenders.
"In the event of repeated violation we need really hard
sanctions," said Ulrich Kelber, the MP promoting the draft law.
"Perhaps even spammers outside of Germany would think twice if they
know that they had to face these sentences when they cross German
borders."
"Tough sentences won't kill off the spam problem but they can
help discourage some repeat offenders," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "It is hoped that Germany will
adopt these and other strong measures against spammers - but with
over 50% of all spam coming out of the United States, German
computer users should not fool themselves into thinking this marks
anything like the end of the problem."
A recent study
by Sophos revealed that Germany is the seventh biggest producer of
spam in the world. Sophos recommends companies protect themselves
with a consolidated solution which can
defend businesses from the threats of both spam and viruses.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing complete security solutions that are simple to deploy, manage, and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, mobile and network security solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.