042/05
27 April 2005

Asia-Pacific Cooperation on Spam

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan today welcomed the signing of a ten nation Asia-Pacific multilateral MOU on cooperation against spam.

“ Australia, in cooperation with Korea, had taken the lead in developing this agreement,” Senator Coonan said.

“Encouraging better international cooperation and enforcement is key to the Australian Government’s strategy to combat the global problem of spam.”

Twelve communications and internet agencies have signed the Seoul-Melbourne anti-spam agreement, and will share information and intelligence about known sources of spam.

The MOU also provides for additional agencies and countries to join the agreement in the future.

In addition to the Seoul-Melbourne MOU, Australia, through the ACA and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is a signatory to the London Action Plan, which draws together government agencies from the UK, the US, eleven European nations, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Canada and Chile. 

Agencies involved in the Seoul-Melbourne multilateral MOU are:  

1. Australian Communications Authority (ACA)
2. Internet Society of China (ISC)
3. Korea Information Security Agency (KISA)
4. Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau, Hong Kong (CITB)
5. Philippines Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT)
6. Philippines Computer Emergency Response Team (PH-CERT)
7. Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
8. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan (METI)
9. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan (MIC)
10. New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development (MED)
11. Taiwan Computer Emergency Response Team / Coordination Centre (TWCERT/CC)
12. Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Kingdom of Thailand (MICT)

Since the Spam Act came into effect 12 months ago, the ACA has required 200 businesses to amend practices to comply with the Act. Infringement notices and on-the-spot fines have been issued for both email and SMS spam.

“Today’s agreement demonstrates that we are serious about cracking down on spam both within Australia and overseas,” said Senator Coonan.