It Will Be Impossible to Send Spam Mail Without Prior Consent

The Korean government has decided to seek ways to legalize a plan in which spammers cannot send spam mail through cellular phones or faxes to people who do not express their intention to receive it in advance.

On February 25, the government held an Information Promotion Committee presided over by Prime Minister Goh Kun, which deliberated and decided on the “Nation’s Plan for Information.” In addition, it also decided to revise related laws within this year so that unsolicited e-mails through cellular phones or faxes can be sent to only people who agree to receive them in advance. Although spam mail has been so far regulated only by usage clauses of service providers, the government decided to step up efforts to regulate spam mail more aggressively in order to protect privacy of subscribers.

In January, the government raised the fine for illegal spam senders from 10 million won to 30 million won to keep spam mail in check. As the volume of spam mail using overseas servers by evading nation’s laws is increasing, the government actively pushed forward a plan that allowed Internet service providers at home and abroad to share blacklists of habitual spammers to deter e-mail spam. Moreover, the government plans to invest 1.5 billion won this year to develop anti-spam technologies and will spend a total of 10 billion won for research and development by 2007. It has also decided to seek ways to build centers for special technical assistance in order to deter obscene spam mail.

Along with these plans, the government decided to establish a nationwide broadband convergence network (BcN: transfer speed 50-100 Mbps) by 2010, 50 times faster than the current high-speed Internet network, in preparation for an age when people can use the Internet at any time and place.

Tae-Han Kim freewill@donga.com