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2003

THUS, one of the UK's leading telecoms and Internet services companies, said today the most effective method of controlling unwanted email traffic - spam - will lie in the hands of Internet service providers for years to come, despite new legislation to combat the problem.

New European-wide legislation came into force today (Thursday) making it a criminal offence to send emails or text messages unless the recipient has agreed in advance to accept them. Firms which continue to send junk mail face hefty fines and can even be sued by the recipients.

Phil Male, Chief Operating Officer of THUS plc said today: " The reality is that the vast majority of spam traffic emanates from overseas and beyond the jurisdiction of the courts that are empowered by the new laws."
"We welcome the new legislation however, it will still be very difficult for our customers to manage the deluge of spam they receive every day. The reality is that the most effective way of combating spam is for Internet Service Providers to implement appropriate filtering systems for their customers to ensure that for them, email remains a valuable business tool."

"Legislation may deter some people but it cannot alone turn the tide of unwanted email traffic that is flooding the Internet."