Regulators from about 60 countries have began a meeting at the UN's telecommunications agency to try to stop the growing tide of unsolicited emails that threatens to drive users and businesses off the Internet.
"It's a disease which has spread around the world. We have an epidemic on our hands which we need to control," said Robert Horton, the acting head of the Australian Communications Authority who is chairing the three-day meeting in Geneva.
Spam is even spreading to mobile phone text messages, affecting an estimated 90 per cent of handsets in Japan.
"Japan is more advanced, se we can expect to be moving towards that future," Horton told journalists.
Some studies indicate unwanted advertising now accounts for up to 75 or 85 per cent of inbound electronic mail, according to the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Spam is also taking on more sophisticated forms and generating its own black economy which regulators want to cap.
ITU Internet strategy adviser Robert Shaw said it was no longer advisable to advertise a company or personal e-mail address on the Internet, because it was likely to fall to a spammer using "harvesting techniques" to scan for e-mail addresses.
"One of the profitable spamming activities is selling CDs of e-mail addresses, for people to spam other people," he added.
About five per cent of e-mail users also get snared by the growing wave of e-mail "phishing", a form of fraud where the message contains an outwardly legitimate request for a credit card or bank account details, Shaw said.
Regulators hope that the meeting, the first of its kind, will mark a first step in building greater international cooperation needed to bring spam under control within two years.
"No single country is able to control spam or the abuse of the internet, we must all act in a concerted manner because the weakest country becomes the weakest link in the chain," Horton said.
As a first step, regulators were likely to try to overcome a first hurdle by setting up a register of contacts in individual countries.
The issue is often dealt with by different government telecommunications, broadcasting or trade agencies.
Regulators are also aiming to swap notes over different types of legislation and technical safeguards.
US, British and Australian regulators last week signed a cooperation agreement to share information, exchange evidence and coordinate enforcement against cross-border spam violations.
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"It's a disease which has spread around the world. We have an epidemic on our hands which we need to control," said Robert Horton, the acting head of the Australian Communications Authority who is chairing the three-day meeting in Geneva.
Spam is even spreading to mobile phone text messages, affecting an estimated 90 per cent of handsets in Japan.
"Japan is more advanced, se we can expect to be moving towards that future," Horton told journalists.
Some studies indicate unwanted advertising now accounts for up to 75 or 85 per cent of inbound electronic mail, according to the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
Spam is also taking on more sophisticated forms and generating its own black economy which regulators want to cap.
ITU Internet strategy adviser Robert Shaw said it was no longer advisable to advertise a company or personal e-mail address on the Internet, because it was likely to fall to a spammer using "harvesting techniques" to scan for e-mail addresses.
"One of the profitable spamming activities is selling CDs of e-mail addresses, for people to spam other people," he added.
About five per cent of e-mail users also get snared by the growing wave of e-mail "phishing", a form of fraud where the message contains an outwardly legitimate request for a credit card or bank account details, Shaw said.
Regulators hope that the meeting, the first of its kind, will mark a first step in building greater international cooperation needed to bring spam under control within two years.
"No single country is able to control spam or the abuse of the internet, we must all act in a concerted manner because the weakest country becomes the weakest link in the chain," Horton said.
As a first step, regulators were likely to try to overcome a first hurdle by setting up a register of contacts in individual countries.
The issue is often dealt with by different government telecommunications, broadcasting or trade agencies.
Regulators are also aiming to swap notes over different types of legislation and technical safeguards.
US, British and Australian regulators last week signed a cooperation agreement to share information, exchange evidence and coordinate enforcement against cross-border spam violations.
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