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ITU Calls For Enforceable ISP Codes of Conduct to Combat Spam

The International Telecommunications Union is holding a World Telecommunications Development Conference this week and has reportedly used the opportunity to release a new study on combatting spam.  The Financial Times reports that the ITU concludes that while all countries need anti-spam legislation, a more effective approach would be to require the establishment of enforceable codes of conduct by ISPs.  In particular, the ITU recommends codes to require ISPs to prohibit their customers from spamming and not to enter into peering arrangements with ISPs that do not accept similar codes of conduct.

At the moment, Canada has neither anti-spam legislation nor binding ISP codes of conduct.  The National Task Force on Spam (of which I was a member) recommended new anti-spam legislation.  It also raised ISP issues, though it only created non-binding "best practices".  There has been no public disclosure on where the new Conservative government stands on the issue.

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