Spam volumes in Australia continue to be high, but the proportion of worldwide spam coming from Australia has dropped since the passing of the Spam Act in 2003, says the Australian government’s Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA).The department has published a review of the act, in line with provisions put in place at its inception. Despite a variety of public submissions recommending changes, DCITA has adopted for the most part a “steady as she goes” view, recommending that most provisions of the act continue unchanged, or be supplemented with a measure of pertinent education to clarify meaning.In particular, there was a strong push to include fax spam in the act, which currently covers only messages conveyed in e-mail and some SMS and instant-messaging communications.Small business, however, resisted such a change, professing concern at the impact on their operations of regulating faxes. Some suggested a voluntary industry code. DCITA recommends that further consultation be undertaken on this front.Some submission writers pushed for a lessening of the exemptions to the act, whereby certain kinds of messages, such as political and religious promotions, were allowed not to observe the general prohibition on messages to parties that had not “opted in,” and do not have to provide an unsubscribe facility. The report, however, recommends no change to these categories. DCITA was not convinced that there had been a significant number of messages that had abused the exemption. Microsoft says the compulsory unsubscribe facility, when applied to all messages from a multifaceted company, is too complex to manage reliably. It suggested that the facility should be actionable on a business-unit or product-line basis, typically requiring several unsubscribe requests from a user who wished to get no more messages from the company.Electronic Frontiers Australia, by contrast, suggested that the requirement be tightened, to allow all personnel within a recipient’s business unit to be able to unsubscribe with one request.DCITA, however, opts to continue with the requirement in its current form.Minister of IT and communications David Cunliffe has introduced anti-spam legislation in New Zealand that is based, in part, on the Australian model. That bill is still proceeding through parliament.-Stephen Bell, Computerworld New Zealand OnlineCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by BMC The data deluge: The need for IT Operations observability and strategies for achieving it BMC Helix brings thousands of data points together to create a holistic view of the health of a service. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business IT Skills Backup and Recovery interview WestRock CIDO Amir Kazmi on building resiliency Multidimensional resiliency is vital to setting yourself, your teams, and your organization up for success. Kazmi sets the tone at WestRock by recognizing the pace of change, instilling a learning and growth mindset, and being transparent with his te By Dan Roberts Dec 07, 2023 8 mins IT Strategy Staff Management IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe