CNSA/ LAP joint meeting - Brussels

Brussels hosted last 13-14 December the second joint meeting of the Contact Network for anti-Spam Authorities (CNSA) and the London Action Plan (LAP) group.
 
Representatives from each country and organisation gave presentations. Canada reported that since 2004 it has had a commission composed of ten officials from government, industry and universities working in the areas of spam, spyware and malware. In 2005 this commission drew up a report with various recommendations, specifically bearing in mind the development of good practices in electronic commerce. The United States (USA) indicated it had diverse information available, namely on the  www.ftc.gov/spamhttp://www.ftc.gov/spam/ website and at  http://onguardonline.gov/index.htmlhttp://onguardonline.gov/index.html , where citizens can make complaints and report such computer crimes. Informative material was also produced to educate consumers and protect them from computer dangers. The United States authorities have already applied 89 condemnations for spam practice, running from monetary fines to prison terms.
 
In the Netherlands the OPTA regulator has been the authority with powers to combat the problems of spam, spyware and computer viruses since May 2004. Since then it has, with a team of eight people, been able to reduce spam by 85 percent. To do that major investments have been made in hardware and software, as well as in personnel training. In 2005 OPTA began drawing up an international blacklist of spammers and respective intermediaries.
 
Japan in turn reported that its Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been focusing on those problems since 2004 and made a great deal of progress. However, the drop in spam originating in Japan has been accompanied by an increase in spam coming from outside the country.
 
The CNSA co-ordinator, the United Kingdom's representative, indicated that the group?s duty is to facilitate the introduction and harmonisation of procedures and a common legislative framework, and stressed the need for international co-operation. When a member State receives a report of large-scale spam operations, it should establish contact with the others to plan joint actions.
 
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) revealed that from its standpoint problems involving spam and phishing practices are increasing at a very high rate, despite efforts by countries and various bodies. Organisations from all continents are working together and taking part in working groups to attack this scourge, with the ITU holding that the path of international co-operation is the most effective. The ITU's efforts with regard to these subjects were also noted, such as the approval of Resolution 130 at the last Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-06). 
 
As for the European Commission (EC), its representatives warned of the fact that spam is an increasingly bigger problem in Europe. He provided some information, for example, the fact that 32 percent of global spam comes from Europe, while only a year ago the figure was 25 percent. This situation has to be inverted by all the member States, because it jeopardises the information society, the EC representative said. Information was also provided on the regulatory framework, which is being revised, specifically Directive 2002/58 on e-Privacy. However, he said that besides the importance of legislation, resources (human and financial) are needed to fight such crimes, and stressed that the internet access providers (ISPs) are the main allies to fight the problem. Lastly, he referred to Working Party 29, which has set parameters so that email service suppliers can implement anti-spam filters.
 
The subject of phishing was discussed by a participant from Canada, who asserted it was ''out of control'' across the globe, according to a report which indicates that 'phishers' have very good technical knowledge, are able to imitate the websites of the main banking entities, are well distributed geographically and are professionally organised. According to that expert, some 419 criminal groups are active in this area worldwide and represent a serious international threat.
 
Given such problems, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body responsible for the Whois database, is debating whether to suspend that application, or to have its access limited to certain kinds of information. The subject was considered at that organisation?s last meeting, held in early December in São Paulo, though no decision was made. The USA representative indicated there had been no progress and that all had been postponed until the next meeting, scheduled for Lisbon in 2007.
 
Lastly, two European anti-spam projects were presented, one French (SignalSpam) and the other German (SpotSpam). These are public-private partnerships, sponsored by the national authorities from each of those countries, which aim to establish a National Spambox. The projects have the same goals and in this phase are open to all those who have any interest in the global fight against spam, accepting proposals to develop and implement respective projects.
 
The next CNSA meeting should be held in mid-2007.