Irish Spam Laws

Most countries have some type of anti-spam laws, and Ireland is no exception. In 2003, they issued a new set of anti-spam laws is aimed at dealing with unsolicited commercial e-mails, cookies and other privacy issues through electronic communication. These laws are an implementation of the European Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive which was implemented throughout the EU.

What These Laws Include

These laws create regulations of the use of both cookies and spyware. They restrict unsolicited direct marketing by phone, fax, automated calling systems, email, SMS and MMS (spam). They give the subscriber who is listed in publically available directories the right to determine what personal data of theirs will be included in the listing. They also require that anyone who wants to list a subscriber in a public directory must first tell the individual what the purpose of the directory will be and how their personal data will be used and accessed. It includes a provision for processing a person's mobile location data, as long as the person consents, and only if it will provide new value added services. Finally, it gives provisions for enforcing regulatory decisions by Comreg and the Data Protection Commissioner. This includes allowing investigatory powers when there is a suspected breach of the new regulations.

Critics of the Plan

Those who are critical of the plan point out that it will have little power over the spam from countries outside of the EU. Mr. Aherne has stated, however, that he hopes to use Ireland's EU presidency to build a global partnership which would tag span use worldwide.

Supporters of the Plan

While supporters of the plan recognize the limitations of the new guidelines, they also see it as a step in the right direction. If more governments create anti-spam regulations and enforce them to the best of their ability, it sends a message to spammers that their offenses are not acceptable. Certainly, in our global world it is virtually impossible to cut out all spam, and only a tiny fraction of the spam that Irish citizens receive is actually sent by Irish spammers. However, each government has to begin somewhere, and Ireland is showing that they see this as a serious issue and one that they are going to stand behind with fines and penalties.

Spamming Penalties

The Irish Minister of Communication says that, with these new regulations, Ireland will have one of the most strict anti-spam enforcement regimes in place in all of Europe. Serious breaches of these regulations can incur a fine as high as 250,000 euros, or 10% of the offending company's turnover.