Tom Dale, Chair of the OECD Task Force on Spam, said: "While technology is making spamming more difficult, spam is becoming increasingly malicious and damaging to the online environment. Spam is now clearly used for significant criminal activity and we aim to assist the development of cross-border enforcement against spammers. The "toolkit" strategy is a fast-track approach to achieve early results."
The aims and components of the Toolkit were outlined at the second OECD Workshop on Spam in Busan, Korea last month. The next steps will be to develop the toolkit to include:
- a spam regulation handbook -- a reference guide to the different existing approaches to spam regulation to help identify loopholes and ways of improving international enforcement and cooperation
- an examination of the self-regulatory arrangements which exist at industry, national or international levels which can be applied against spam
- an analysis of existing and emerging technical measures against spam, including authentication technology
- a central resource of information to educate and raise awareness of the threat of spam and how to fight it. This will include tips for users on how to protect themselves from spam and how to avoid "phishing," when spammers use fake e-mails to encourage Internet users to divulge confidential financial data
- an overview of existing partnerships against spam, examples of good practice and lessons that can be learned for the development of cooperative partnerships against spam.
Contributions are welcomed from all stakeholders in business and industry, policy makers, governments and civil society, including non-member countries. Public contributions to the OECD anti-spam Toolkit may be sent by e-mail.
