Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 349: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if at national or international level, he has taken steps to combat spam on the internet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20836/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Due to concerns raised by Member States in relation to the sending of unsolicited emails for direct marketing purposes via the internet, mobile phones and other electronic communications media, the EU introduced Directive 2002/58/EC (Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications). This Directive was transposed into national law in November 2003 via the Data Protection and Privacy Regulations 2003 (SI No. 535 of 2003). The regulations place restrictions on the sending of unsolicited emails for direct marketing purposes via the Internet, mobile phones and other electronic communications media.

Responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations rests with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

Spam is a global problem and the capacity of an individual Member State to control it in isolation is very limited because spam can originate outside the Member State's jurisdiction. The EU and the OECD set up working groups to explore the options for controlling spam, the EU in the context of the Member States and the OECD in the wider global context. My Department and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner were represented on the aforementioned groups.