 13 April 2007. A new law requires will require businesses in Singapore to tag "ADV," for advertisement, on all e-mail and SMS messages they send to people here. This will allow those who do not wish to receive such mails to easily block or automatically direct them to trash binsMarketers must also provide facilities for consumers to opt-out.
If the consumer opts not to receive any more messages, marketers must stop doing so within 10 days, or he can be taken to court. They face damages of up to $25 for each message, capped at $1 million.
Marketers must also put in valid contact details so that a consumer can seek redress if he finds the content misleading.
While the proposed legislation could put a stop to spam from Singapore, it is expected to have little impact on the bulk of the messages -- some 90 per cent -- from overseas.
Many countries in the world and most first world countries already have anti-SPAM rules, many of which ,like in the EU are based on an opt-in system which provides greater consumer protection.
To stop SPAM globally, countries could enter in regional pacts like the ASEAN or EU and create platforms to allow recipients in one country to take action against those of another. Adoption of a universally standard set of rules will help bring this about faster.
At present the USA, like Singapore adopts a "opt out" system under its "CAN SPAM" legislations. |
