In reference to the article 'IT group backs call to ban spam' (South China Morning Post, August 5) I have the following comments.
In early 1999 I drafted the initial report for the HKISPA on how to reduce spam problems. This resulted in the creation of the Anti-Spam Task force within the HKISPA. My suggestions were aimed at Hong Kong internet service providers (ISPs) not being the source of spam. This way, it would first allow local ISP's to put their (our) house in order, and then request that other countries in the region do the same.
There were several recommendations, many of which have since been adopted by ISPs in other countries as standard operating procedures, but not yet by most in Hong Kong.
My recommendations and suggestions fell on deaf ears for about three years.
Since then, there have only been a few ISPs that have adopted my suggestions, one being Netvigator. Since the changes were implemented last year, I have only seen about three spam messages originating from their network. Implementing policies such as this does come at a cost, as it requires providers to somewhat limit the ability of their customers to broadcast email.
The HKISPA's request for legislation is based on them not actually wanting to spend any money or time in solving the problem. But it should be made very clear that it is ISPs who can solve the problem of their networks being used as a source of spam.
Banning spam through legislation is not the way of solving this problem. It will cause more harm than good. As what constitutes spam is not universally defined or agreed on, anyone can make claims against others systematically, resulting in whatever system that is put in place by the authorities being quickly overloaded.
