Find out what difficulties Computer Crime Unit (CCU), Metropolitan Police Service has faced in clamping down spam and cyber crimes.

Find out what legal experts think about challenges technology has brought.

ISPA & ISPreview
ISPs colluding with spammers?

Mark Jackson is editor-in-chief of ISPreview, an independent body publishing customers’ ratings of ISPs and complaints.

He said cases like pink contracts (ISPs turning a blind eye to spammers’ persistent abuse) do happen “though this is more likely to occur on a private scale outside of the public market, except in some countries external to the UK where regulation of spam is virtually non-existent and remote ISPs can abuse at their leisure.”

Internet Service Providers’ Association UK director Brain Ahearne said in a statement: “Members should ensure that their email systems will not relay email for unauthorised third parties. They should not permit customers to distribute tools, or lists of email addresses, whose purpose is the sending of unsolicited bulk emails. Where abuse is proved, the ISP should take effective action to prevent the customer from continuing that abuse. The legal basis on which services are provided to customers should allow such action to be taken.”

According to Gartner Group*, 74% of customers believe that their ISPs should be responsible for fixing spam problems and 7% of ISP churn was directly attributed to spam. If any ISP does consider signing a pink contract with a spammer, the interests must be hugely outweighing the consequences of wrecking its reputation, losing customers and being punished by law.

Mr Jackson said: “People tend not to complain about spam. I think most people recognise that complaining about junk e-mail is now a bit like moaning when the wind blows. You have to kill it at the source and that isn’t usually your own ISP, at least not in the UK.

“You have to develop tougher laws and cross-border regulations to prevent it at the source,” said Mr Jackson.

* statistics from Anti Spam Software