[clug] LONG - Anti Spam Laws (Spam Act 2003) - a simple outline.

[Tomasz Ciolek]

On Sun, Jun 27, 2004 at 01:07:30PM +1000, Stephen Rothwell wrote:
> Hi Tomasz,
> 
> Just a couple of clarifications:
> I assume from this that you are not a lawyer.  Is that correct?

Correct. I am employed by the Australian Communications Authority as an
IT specialist. I am employed specifically to investigate the breaches of
the Spam Act. As such I have a very good understanding of what I am suppoed to
enforce.

What you see here is based on the legal advice given by the 
Australian Government Solicitors and the Australian Communications Authority 
legal teams. An FAQ about the Spam ACT 2003 can be found on the ACA
website which is http;//www.aca.gov.au/

> > 1. Commercial message as defined is any message that advertises or
> > solicits goods and services for commercial gain.
> Does the ACT, or anything else, define "commercial gain"?

The Act specifically describes what a "Commercial electronic message"
is. Aove is my cutdown version.

> > 2. Electronic message is defined as ANY electronic message sent via a
> > telecommunications network other than voice. Faxes are at this time
> > placed outside of the scope of the Act by ministerial regulation. 
> > This means that ALL:
> >  * emails
> >  * SMS
> >  * MMS
> >  * Instant Messages (yahoo, jabber, MSN, IRC, etc)
> > 
> > that carry commercial content (see 1 above) are commercial electronic
> > messages for the purpose of the law.
> 
> How about Usenet News?

Is usenet news associated with an "account"? If so, yes. If it is more
like broadcast in it's nature, then no. I have nit checked the legality
of Usenet News as such.

> Does the ACT define "the body of the message"?

Yes, the act defines what the message is. It is effectively the contents
of an email, ie body.

Regards
Tomasz Ciolek
-- 
Tomasz M. Ciolek	
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 tmc at dreamcraft dot com dot au 
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