Stopping Spam: Creating a Stronger, Safer Internet

Citation
Stopping Spam: Creating a Stronger, Safer Internet: Report of the Task Force on Spam (May 2005) (full-text).

Overview
The final report of the Canadian Task Force on Spam made 22 recommendations on stopping spam:

Leadership and partnership


 * 1) The federal government, in partnership with other stakeholders, should continue to pursue a multifaceted strategy for stopping spam.

Legislation, regulation and enforcement


 * 1) The federal government should establish in law a clear set of rules to prohibit spam and other emerging threats to the safety and security of the Internet (e.g. botnets, spyware, keylogging) by enacting new legislation and amending existing legislation as required.
 * 2) To this end, the following email activities and practices should be made offences in spam-specific legislation (these provisions may also be reflected, in whole or in part, in existing legislation):
 * the failure to abide by an opt-in regime for sending unsolicited commercial email;
 * the use of false or misleading headers or subject lines (i.e. false transmission information) designed to disguise the origins, purpose or contents of an email, whether the objective is to mislead recipients or to evade technological filters;
 * the construction of false or misleading URLs and websites for the purpose of collecting personal information under false pretences or engaging in criminal conduct (or to commit other offences listed);
 * the harvesting of email addresses without consent, as well as the supply, use or acquisition of such lists; and
 * dictionary attacks.