Aust govt plans to reject spam bill: Williams

Federal government plans to reject what it describes as unworkable “watered-down spam legislation” when it goes to the House of Representatives.

Anti-spam legislation was passed in the Senate this morning, but Daryl Williams -- Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts -- has indicated that it won't be accepted by the government.

Williams issued a statement today accusing the Opposition and the Australian Democrats of combining “to insert loopholes in the Bill so that spammers will be able to continue bombarding Australian consumers with unsolicited and often offensive electronic mail”. 

He said that the government would reject “loophole amendments passed by the Senate” in the House of Representatives.

“This is a giant loophole that unscrupulous spammers could not have designed better for themselves,” it states. “It removes the government's strict requirement that the recipient must consent to receiving commercial email.”