Poland Raises Ante Against Spam

Poland has added an anti-spam provision in a draft amendment to its telecommunications law, according to TMCnet.

The new regulation would make spamming—which the report did not define—a crime punishable by a fine of up to $32,000.

How much spam goes through or comes from Poland is unclear.

The country is No. 6 on security concern Sophos’s ‘dirty dozen’ top spam-relaying countries, accounting for 3.6% of all spam. However, Poland doesn’t even make anti-spam Web site Spamhaus.org’s top 10 worst countries list.

From 2003 to 2006, Polish police initiated 71 spamming cases, but local courts only fined two of the culprits, according to the report.

Poland’s new anti-spam law is reportedly also aimed at more than just commercial e-mail.

“The bill’s authors also want political, trivia and charity messages to all be considered spam,” said the report.