Australian and regional regulatory responses to the key challenges of consumer protection in electronic commerce (March 2008)

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4.4. Spam

• 4.4.1. ASEAN
• 4.4.2. Pacific Island Forum

4.4.1. ASEAN

Singapore is the only country in ASEAN that has enacted a spam law,[61] although there is a provision in a Malaysian Act that may be of some assistance in prosecuting spammers. A spam law is currently being drafted in the Philippines and there are plans to enact laws in Thailand. There may be greater coverage of this cyberlaw in ASEAN in the future as spam becomes more of a nuisance for Internet users and lawmakers become more familiar with the legal controls needed to regulate spam. The enacted legislation in Singapore may provide lawmakers in other member countries with a convenient reference point for drafting their own dedicated spam laws.

ASEAN is currently considering a proposal to examine the harmonisation of spam laws across the ten ASEAN Member Countries.

4.4.2. Pacific Island Forum

Galexia is assisting the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) in the development of a harmonised spam legislation, enforcement and co-operation regime in the Pacific. This project, funded in part by AusAID’s Pacific Governance Support Program (PGSP), is currently being applied across the island states of Niue, Samoa and Vanuatu. Australia, Tonga and the Cook Islands already have harmonised spam legislation in place, and more countries may join this group in the future.

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[61] Spam Control Act 2007 (Singapore), <http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_legdisp.pl?actno=2007-ACT-21-N>.

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