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Maybe he had to clear his own mailbox one day and discovered the magnitude of the problem for himself -- or perhaps a small but vocal group of voters bailed him up at his local drinking hole and threatened him with physical harm.

Whatever the reason, Mr Swain appears to have stepped back from his claim that it would be simply "too hard" to legislate against spam, and about time too.

While I'm very much opposed to politicians meddling with the world's most rapidly grown and successful communications system, I'm also aware that without some kind of action, that system will crumble under the weight of flash-Harrys flogging fake viagra.

So am I happy?

No, I'm actually very worried.

For some reason, Swain seems to think that it would be a good idea to follow Australia's lead in respect to anti-spam legislation.

To this I say: "Duh!" and "Why?"

Let's face it, for all their other virtues, or friends across the ditch haven't shown themselves to be the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to Internet-related legislation. Just look at their farcical censorship and online gambling laws for example.

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And why would we effectively align our anti-spam laws with Australia when the huge bulk of spam actually originates out of the USA anyway.

I'm also very worried that the government will call on the "expertise(?)" of those same dim-bulbs responsible for suggesting the payment of $1m for the domain name newzealand.com.

There are hints that the government is about to screw up the whole thing in this story from IDG where the phrase "opt-in" is used rather than the essential phrase "confirmed opt-in" or "double opt-in".

Do our politicians even realise the *huge* difference between opt-in and confirmed opt-in?

If not, I'd be glad to demonstrate the effect -- just send me the email address you'd like to see that demonstration launched against.

And why are we only seeking to "minimise" false or misleading subject lines and header information? Do our current road laws allow us to drink-drive occasionally so as to merely "minimise" the number of deaths that result? I think not.

Perhaps the answer to getting some effective, internationally recognised legislation to the problem of spam is to follow the example of copyright and trademark laws.

Just look at how the Berne convention has quite significantly harmonised key copyright laws around the world. I strongly believe that the only way we'll deal to spam at a legal level is to organise exactly the same type of accord in respect to anti-spam legislation.

As I've said before in this column -- if NZ want's to make it's mark in the Knowledge Economy, why don't we take the initiative on this one and kick-start such an initiative. Let's lead the way to drafting an international convention on the spam issue instead of first saying "it's too hard" and then trying to hitch a ride on Australia's apron strings.

Sure, there'd be a cost involved in getting such an accord drafted and selling it to potential signatories -- but that cost is just a tiny fraction of the amount that spam costs every NZ business every year -- so let's get our fingers out and get going!

If any Aardvark readers have an opinion on today's column or want to add something you're also invited to chip in and have your say.

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