Stopping spam

THE Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is looking at ways to safeguard the public against the increasing burden of spam. One of the measures being considered is for all communications service providers to have subscription contracts with their customers. The commission plans to develop benchmarks for the service providers, comprising telcos and Internet service providers (ISPs), under the subscription contracts within the year. This is to ensure that the terms and conditions of such contracts provide customers with an avenue to report incidents of spam and facilitate civil action by service providers against spammers. Such measures, according to a MCMC spokesperson, are necessary as the volume of spam – defined by the commission as the activity of sending unsolicited messages via online medium such as Internet e-mails or mobile short message service (SMS) – is expected to grow with the increased usage of multimedia messaging service (MMS) and the introduction of third-generation (3G) messaging services. “As cited in MCMC’s recently released Public Consultation Report on Regulating Unsolicited Commercial Messages, the subscription contracts between service providers and customers should ensure that service providers are able to take action in good faith against spammers without fear of litigation. All service providers ideally should have similar clauses in these contractual agreements that facilitate co-operation among themselves and the ability to take action if necessary,” the spokesperson told Computimes on Tuesday. Apart from creating benchmarks for service providers, MCMC is also mulling the development of a “spam portal” for end users this year. “The portal would be specifically targeted to increase user awareness on spam. It would be a tool to educate users on what spam is, how they should deal with it and how they can curb such incidents. There would be a facility for incident reporting and getting advice on the appropriate actions to be taken,” the spokesperson said. Other than the measures being planned by the commission, the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum (http://www.cfm.org.my.) is also doing its part in fighting spam. The spokesperson said the forum is developing a sub-code to the General Consumer Code that already contains provisions to ensure personal data and information is protected and not misused. The sub-code that specifically applies to the ISPs and mobile service providers to regulate unsolicited commercial messages would require them to take reasonable steps and implement appropriate solutions in curbing spam. The report on the public consultation, released by MCMC on Feb 17, recommended that an action plan against spam be implemented in four steps (refer to flowchart). The first, to be addressed by users focuses on self-regulation of both Internet and mobile users to be facilitated by education and awareness initiatives. The second step focuses on service providers to manage spam via effective subscription contracts between service providers and customers, and to honour their obligations under the Content and the General Consumer Code. Step three revolves around legislative recourse via the commission, only to be applied if the first and second steps have been exhausted. If the step is utilised, action under the Communications and Multimedia Act, Section 233 (1), will be pursued. The public consultation on spam was carried out from August 7 to Sept 3 last year.