The British government has passed a law requiring spammers to get permission beforehand from their recipients, according to wire service reports.
Violators will be subject to fines of 5,000 pounds (about $8,000) or more and possible lawsuits.
The rule, aimed at shrinking the heavy traffic of junk e-mail messages, also applies to unsolicited text messages sent to mobile phones.
But the government won’t be able to touch bulk e-mailers who target Britons from outside the country, and spammers’ anonymity may make it hard to impose fines even on British ones.
The law takes effect in December.
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