Coinciding with the celebration of World Day 2005 for a safer internet (8 February) and with the Commission’s launch of an awareness-raising campaign in schools coupled with a special competition (http://europa.eu.int/saferinternet), thirteen European countries have signed an accord aimed at combating at the EU level the phenomenon of the sending of unsolicited e-mails, so-called spam. On a voluntary basis, the authorities and ministries responsible at the national level for the protection of data and privacy in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Holland and Spain have agreed to cooperate in handling the complaints presented anywhere in the Union, develop a common procedure to facilitate the identification of spammers, apply the existing legislation, and overcome the physical and legal barriers that are hampering the investigative and judicial authorities. The project is part of the Antispam Network set up in 2004 on the initiative of the European Commission. For further information, consult http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/ecomm/highlights/current_spotlights/spam/index_en.htm.
