Europe Bolsters "Opt-Out" Spam Controls.

The European Commission Wednesday announced it has bolstered its anti-spam proposals, but users must still opt out of spam. The commission published a revised version of its proposed legal framework for e-commerce in response to the European Parliament_s suggestions. The framework would now include the requirement that "member states shall take measures to ensure that service providers undertaking unsolicited commercial communications by e-mail consult regularly and respect the opt-out registers." The commission said the proposals would open up a pragmatic and workable solution to the problem of unsolicited commercial communications by establishing mandatory national registers of users who had opted out of receiving this kind of e-mail. But the proposed change would still fall short of calls from the European Internet Service Providers Association (EuroISPA), which had requested the commission pass laws that would offer European e-mail users default protection from European Union-based spammers. "We wanted it opt-in -- full stop," said EuroISPA spokesman Joe McNamee. "With opt-in, it is clear that when you receive unsolicited e-mail, it has been harvested [scanned from a Web page or newsgroup], and you can then react appropriately. McNamee said the European Commission_s decision to choose opt-out was bad news for e-mail users worldwide, because the commission would influence international bodies such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.