There is literally no email account which has not been hit by spam or junk mails. Botnets networks of virus infected computers are primarily responsible for sending these emails which uses address books of user’s email accounts . Spammers also collect email address through various other sources such as websites, lists that are available for a price etc. The purpose of spam might be marketing, phishing or distribution of malware.

All email service providers claim to have top-notch world class anti spam protections by automatically identifying such messages and dispatching them to spam/junk folders, they have bulk message sending guidelines also. Yahoo mail claims to block over 15 billion spam messages daily.

According to Spamhaus Project , USA leads the tally of top 10 worst spam countries, India is positioned at number sixth. However, it is very alarming that in the category of top 10 worst Botnet Countries, India is ranked number one followed by Vietnam and China.

While many countries have enacted a legislation to counter email Spamming, India still lacks any such counter mechanism. As of now The Information Technology Act, 2000 of India does not contain any provision that address issue of spamming.  

USA, way back in 2003 has enacted Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN SPAM Act) which provide for penalties of up to $16,000 for each separate email in its violation. The following is a brief look into main requirements of CAN Spam Act:

1.     Don’t use false or misleading header information.   Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.

2.     Don’t use deceptive subject lines.   The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.

3.     Identify the message as an ad.   The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.

4.     Tell recipients where you’re located.   Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.

5.     Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you.   Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.

6.     Honor opt-out requests promptly.   Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.

7.     Monitor what others are doing on your behalf.   The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

Perhaps it is the high time for the Indian Government to take the call for formulating an anti spam policy/rules on the lines of other countries which declare spamming as an illegal act and provide for penalties/prosecution for the offence.