EU Steps Up Fight Against Spam

The European Union  head office called for closer coordination among all member governments to hunt down and prosecute those illegally spreading unsolicited e-mails across the 25-nation bloc. 13 EU countries agreed to cooperate in investigating complaints against spammers.

The deal of combatting unsolicited e-mails is voluntary but "establishes a common procedure for handling cross-border complaints on spam" and closes loopholes. The 13 countries are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands and Spain.

The anti-spam rules are part of tough privacy regulations adopted in 2003 on electronic communications.