Nations join to combat cross-border spam.

Anti-spam enforcement authorities in 13 European countries recently agreed to share information and pursue complaints across borders in a joint drive to combat electronic junk mail. The nations will cooperate in investigating complaints about cross-border spare from anywhere within the European Union to make it easier to identify and prosecute spammers anywhere in Europe.

The voluntary agreement establishes a common procedure for handling cross-border spam complaints. Participating countries--including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Nether-lands, and Spain--will make their best efforts to address complaints from each other.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Spain's data protection authority, Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos (AEPD), recently signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding to promote enhanced cooperation and information sharing on spam enforcement activities. In July 2004, the FTC signed a similar agreement with the United Kingdom and Australia.

In October 2004, the FTC, the AEPD, and other enforcement agencies from countries around the world met in London to develop greater international enforcement cooperation against spare. Under the "London Action Plan," 26 agencies from 19 countries, along with numerous private-sector representatives, agreed to share information about spare enforcement, participate in investigative training sessions, and undertake joint education and enforcement projects.

Germany is taking spam control into its own hands. People who send junk e-mail in Germany will face fines of as much as 50,000 euros according to a draft law agreed upon by Germany's ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens. The law will also prevent spammers from disguising their name and the nature of the e-mail.

German lawmakers hope that the steep fine will make people think twice about sending spam. It has been illegal to send spam in Germany since July 2004, but the ruling coalition hopes the new legislation will help stop the practice.