'Anti-spam' laws left up in the air by dithering DTI

Britain is being forced to wait and see whether email laws will favour users or commercial spammers because the DTI is refusing to be drawn on the issue in advance of next month's parliamentary vote.

Last week a European Parliamentary committee came out in favour of Marco Cappato's report on data protection, asserting that individual states should be able to make their own decisions on opt-in, opt-out policies.

The DTI today confirmed that it supports this standpoint. Nick Fearon, a spokesman for the department said that the UK "favours the flexibility of member states to opt-in or opt-out".

However, when pressed Fearon would not indicate which side the UK government would come down. He added that the issue would need to be looked at in more detail and consultations made, but he would not give any more detail as to what or whom that consultation will include: "Plans will come out after the vote," he said.

This is the second time the committee has voted on the report. The first effort was thrown out of parliament because of an amendment saying users must be able to opt-out.

While it appears the committee is in favour of opt-out, the parliament itself does not clearly come down on this side. This indicates that there might be a degree of division within the EU on this issue.

This divide is also reflected across Europe. While some countries believe the opt-out option is good for business and harmless to individuals, others are critical of the use of personal data for what is essentially electronic junk mail.

What do you think? Should spammers have the right to stuff your inbox with rubbish unless you tell them not to? Post a Reader Comment below.