Email spam continues to hound Europe"”report

Unsolicited emails continue to plague Europeans and account for between 50% and 80% of all messages sent to mail inboxes, a European Commission study, quoted by an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Press report also quoted EU media commissioner Viviane Reding as saying that EU governments should step up their fight against spam, spyware and other illegal online activities and implement EU rules to improve Internet safety.

An EU report found that only two EU nations, the Netherlands and Finland, were making inroads in enforcing the 2002 law to crack down on spam.

EU spokesman Martin Selmayr.said Dutch authorities were able to reduce spam by 85% by using fines to get businesses to fall in line with the EU rule, the Associated Press report said.

The Dutch telecommunications watchdog OPTA slapped 60,000 euros ($78,500) in fines on three companies late last year for sending spam, and the Commission wants other governments to act as well, Reding said.

The EU report said spam cost 39 billion euros ($51.1 billion) worldwide last year, according to San Francisco-based Ferris Research Institute.\n

Selmayr said the biggest culprit of spam remains the US, which accounts for 21.6% of spam coming into the 25-nation EU. China is the second-biggest producer with \n13.4%, while EU member France is third with 6.3%.

 

Wireless (capacity)

 

Satellite system allows developing nations share weather, health data

 

A new satellite-based information system will quickly spread environmental and health data across the world so that developing countries can anticipate catastrophes such as drought, storms and floods, for only about $1,500\n  in setup costs, an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Press report said the GEONETCast system, to be unveiled at an international conference in Bonn, Germany, will permit governments in poorer nations to tap information from the sophisticated satellites and weather stations run largely by the world\'s richer industrial countries, organizers say.\n

For example, officials trying to contain wildfires could use near real-time data on wind speed, wind direction and surface temperature to ease the impact of the disaster, the report said.\n',1]);//-->EU officials have said they will put forward new legislation next year to make it easier to prosecute spammers.

The EU report said spam cost 39 billion euros ($51.1 billion) worldwide last year, according to San Francisco-based Ferris Research Institute.