MPs tweak 'spam' bill

A parliamentary committee has made several minor changes to legislation designed to cut down on unwanted "spam" emails.

Critics of the the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill say it will do little as 90 per cent of spam emails originate overseas.

But Communications Minister David Cunliffe has said the legislation is a first step to tackling junk emails.

The Government has also called for an international agreement to fight the huge number of spam emails cluttering the internet.

The commerce committee last night reported to Parliament that its changes included:

* Messages containing links to websites seeking to market goods will be considered commercial messages.

* People wishing to complain about spam will not have to complain to their internet provider before complaining to an enforcement agency.

* Reference to promotional messages has been removed from the bill.

* Departments charged with enforcing the bill should also be allowed to monitor emails with legal sexually oriented material that might draw viewers into more serious content.

* Commercial messages must contain an unsubscribe facility in the same medium so people can easily get off the sender's mailing list.

United Future MP Gordon Copeland said the bill provided a user-friendly regime for dealing with spam containing pornography.

- NZPA