Rod,

Yes, that's right, they will begin drafting legislation "as soon as
possible".  But exactly when is "as soon as possible"?  The stumbling block
will be in devising a legal definition of what "spam" actually is.

We all think we know what spam is, but we all have different interpretations
on what constitutes spam or spammers.  That alone is sure to keep any truly
usable draft legislation in the back rooms of Parliament for years to
come...

Personally, I just reckon Mr. Alston had a nice tea party with some business
people who wanted to let him know that their anti-spam software tools are
pretty neat, and hey while we're at it, why not get some press coverage as
well.  Well, after spending $4 million dollars of public money on a website,
I'd be wanting to come up with some positive spin stories, wouldn't you?

...MJM

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rod Keys [mailto:rod§ddns.com.au]
> Sent: Thursday, 17 April 2003 2:41 PM
> To: dns§lists.auda.org.au
> Subject: [DNS] will .au now take off
>
>
> Could this new law have a positive impact on the registration of domains
> ending in .au
>
> afr.com 17/04/03
> Bulk, unsolicited email, or spam, will be outlawed in Australia,
> possibly by
> the end of this year, the Minister for Communications, Senator Richard
> Alston, said on Wednesday.
>
> The federal government would draft legislation "as soon as possible" that
> would make spam an offence under the Telecommunications Act and
> other laws,
> a spokesman for the minister said
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
> List policy, unsubscribing and archives =>
> http://www.auda.org.au/list/dns/
> Please do not retransmit articles on this list without permission of the
> author, further information at the above URL.  (371 subscribers.)
>
>