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The system is a mix of public and private action. The enforcement of anti-spam laws is a protracted and resource intensive exercise. The bounty approach is welcome but only rewards a single person. Schwartz has suggested a multi-institutional approach however this would risk dilution of the impact on consumer awareness. Consumers could be confused as to which body has overall responsibility for enforcement.
 
Legislative Response: The European Union

The European response culminated in the E-privacy directive 2002.  The Directive is designed to harmonise the levels of protection afforded to consumers in a technology-neutral manner. To this end, the Directive extends controls on unsolicited direct marketing to all forms of electronic communications including unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE or Spam) and SMS to mobile telephones. The directive was given legal effect in the United Kingdom by virtue of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003,  which came into force on the 11th December 2003.

The overarching principle of the E-privacy directive is that UCE will only be lawful where express prior consent is given, that is an opt-in system has been adopted. Consent is defined as any appropriate method which enables the user to freely give specific and informed indication of his wishes. The definition is wide enough to encompass the ticking of a box on a website. The EU Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection  considers that companies who simply ask individuals if they would wish to receive marketing e-mails will fall foul of the consent requirement of Directive 2002/58 since the purpose of the marketing e-mail must be made explicitly clear to the recipient and must also be specific.  This is eminently sensible since to hold otherwise would render the opt-in system ineffectual. The Working Party also condemns the use of pre-ticked boxes on websites because they are not true indicators of informed consent.    

The Article 13(4) of the Directive prohibits the sending of unsolicited direct marketing e-mail where the sender’s identity is disguised or concealed or where no valid return address is provided. This provision was given legal effect in the United Kingdom via Regulation 23 of the Privacy Regulations.  This regulation also prohibits the instigating of an unsolicited transmission. If direct marketing does take place, the recipient must be provided with the name of the person using or instigating the direct marketing via the public communication service.

Regulation 22 provides that direct marketing unsolicited electronic communications can only be sent where the recipient has previously notified the sender that he consents to such communications, for the time being. However, the regulation’s consumer protection impact is lessened by the tripartite list of exceptions outlined in subsection 3. Firstly, direct marketing e-mails can be sent where the sender has obtained the contact details of the recipient in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service to that recipient. Secondly, the direct marketing only relates to similar products and services of the sender and lastly, the recipient has been given a simple means of refusing the u本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。