IT'S TIME TO DAM THE SPAM.

This article focuses on the problem regarding unwanted electronic mail, known as spam, in Canada. Today, service providers estimate the volume of spam at anywhere from two-thirds to 80 per cent of all email traffic. And Canada, which is only belatedly coming to grips with the enormity of the problem, is the fourth largest source of those junk emails. The Information Technology Association of Canada says Nortel Networks is deluged with 5,000 to 15,000 spam messages each day, despite spam filters; experts say each message costs $1 in lost productivity. In this world of zombie machines and email-address-harvesting spiders, the solutions are as diverse as the deliciously dubbed problems. Most importantly, well after the United States, EU and Australia, we are finally tackling our legal loopholes. The University of Ottawa's e-commerce law professor Michael Geist notes that existing laws such as privacy legislation could handle many spam complaints -- if they are enforced. But we still need tougher penal provisions for offenders.