Official Report on Visit

Visit to Washington DC of APIG and the e-Envoy 13-16 October 2003 to discuss international approaches to tackling spam.

OFFICIAL REPORT


TRIP OBJECTIVES:

  • To brief US legislators and relevant agencies on the current legislative situation in the UK and EU.
  • To better understand the US legislative approach to tackling spam.
  • To facilitate an exchange of ideas and dialogue with lawmakers and influencers in the US.
  • To agree that spam is a global social problem and discuss international solutions that will achieve results while respecting the different cultural, social and regulatory framework of different countries.
  • To ensure that the appropriate lawmakers and influencers on both sides of the Atlantic continue to engage in dialogue after the trip.

UK DELEGATION INCLUDED:

Andrew Pinder (e-Envoy)
Brian White MP
Derek Wyatt MP
Andrew Miller MP
Phil Budden (British Embassy, Washington DC)

MEETINGS WERE HELD WITH:

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)
Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana)
Senator Gordon Smith (R-Oregon)
Staff to Senator Schumer (D- New York)
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D- California 16)
Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R – New Mexico 1)
Howard Beales, Director of Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Sherry Greenberg, Director of Federal Relations California State Assembly
Members of the Cyber Crimes Unit, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Members of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Team, Department of Justice
Anna Snow, Senior Trade Advisor, EU Commission Delegation, Washington DC
Paul Putman & Christian Rogan, MessageLabs UK Government Relations Delegation
Mark Uncapher, Senior VP and Counsel, Information Technology Association of America
AOL Counsel
Microsoft, US Government Team
MessageLabs, US Office
Vodafone, US Government Team
Matthew Prince, Unspam

The UK Delegation also took part in a Senate Forum organised to highlight their mission, ‘International Challenges to Controlling Spam,’ chaired by Senator Ron Wyden and Senator John Ensign.  Andrew Pinder sat on the panel alongside Howard Beales, FTC, Chuck Curran, AOL and Paul Judge, Cipher Trust.


KEY MESSAGES FROM THE US

  • There is considerable scope for bilateral cooperation on enforcement, even if there will be differences over the legislative approach to fighting spam

The key enforcement agency (the FTC, answerable to Congress) has not been given adequate resources to deal with the problem, and it still seeks a technical solution that will help them uncover where spam messages have originated.
The FTC have commissioned a ‘Spam Task Force,’ that will operate at a state and federal level and will have both criminal and civil authority.  The Force has not yet met.

The law enforcement agencies are in agreement that spam is now more than just a nuisance. It was agreed that it had become an offence, with a potentially severe economic cost that could become a security threat.

The enforcement focus should be on fraudulent or offensive e-mails that are already breaking applicable laws. Spam e-mails that cannot directly harm the recipient are not yet an enforcement priority for either Government agencies or legislators.

Opinion is divided as to whether any anti-spam legislation would pass this Congress due to differences between competing bills and disagreements in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. While the CAN-SPAM Bill has now passed the Senate, it seems most likely that it will meet up with one of the House of Representatives anti-spam bills in a conference committee.

The EU is continuing to push the US to adopt the opt-in approach at the federal level.

 
ACHIEVEMENTS

  • The Delegation succeeded in raising the profile of the issue and bringing to the attention of US lawmakers and the media the potential security threat posed by increasing levels of spam and the present lack of international solutions to counter it.
  • Agreement that, although legislative solutions will differ, the UK and US should lead the way in building enforcement relationships to tackle the problem.
  • Agreement that the first focus should be to use existing options to take enforcement action against those spammers that already fall foul of current legislation.
  • Agreement that the UK, EU and US should hold bilateral meetings ahead of the OECD summit in February 2004.
  • Raised US awareness about British innovation and expertise in the area of spam solutions.


RECOMMENDATIONS TO UK GOVERNMENT

  • APIG recommends that the Government should not see emerging legislative differences as an obstacle for dealing with spammers or pursuing discussions with the US on this matter.
  • APIG recommends that the Government make urgent arrangements with the US administration to reach bi-lateral agreements by holding talks ahead of the OECD summit in February 2004.
  • APIG recommend that the Government encourage the US to increase the pressure on enforcement agencies to take action against spammers, and build on the agreements to further relationships between our respective enforcement agencies.
  • APIG recommends that the Government agree a common message with the EU on spam to the US