US spam ruling sets important precedent

A US appeals court has ruled in favour of a law restricting junk faxes, deeming it to be constitutional and setting a precedent that may lead to a heightened legal crackdown on unsolicited email.

Congress's goal of "restricting unsolicited fax advertisements in order to prevent the cost shifting and interference such unwanted advertising places on the recipient" was reasonable, a three-judge panel ruled.

The decision could be important in the growing legal tussles over spam. While it is argued that there is a greater commercial imperative to combat fax spam - due to the cost of paper and toner - the arguments in favour of a crackdown on email spam actually appear to offer a clearer commercial benefit.

The problem of email spam forces companies to spend money on software filters and increased storage for incoming mail, as well as increased bandwidth to ensure a tide of email spam doesn't dent 'business as usual'.

Ray Everett-Church, a privacy consultant at ePrivacyGroup.com and a board member of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, applauded the US court's decision.

He said: "It certainly reinforces the argument that many have made for a long time, which is that federal regulations banning unsolicited email could be held constitutional."