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SA spammer pays up

Cape Town - A local spammer has finally paid up after being found guilty of sending unsolicited messages.

On Monday, the Internet Service Providers' Association (Ispa) accepted payment of R65 000 from Ketler Investments CC t/a Ketler Presentations after a court judgment.

The company sought to sue Ispa over listing it in the "Hall of Shame" - a list of South African companies which send spam.

The South Gauteng High Court found that Ketler Investments was a repeat offender and had been previously listed in the Hall of Shame in 2009.

"As Ketler Presentations and others have found to their cost, Ispa will defend its rights to take action against spammers in South Africa and, if necessary, pursue litigation aimed at protecting the rights of South African Internet consumers and ensuring a safe, accessible and equitable local web," said Dominic Cull, Ispa regulatory advisor.

Wakeup call

Security companies have found that spam is one of the primary delivery methods for malware and spammers often trade the details of people.

Under South Africa's new Protection of Personal Information Act, commonly known as Popi, the practice is illegal, though the act in its entirety is still in its implementation phase.

"Personal information must be collected for a specific, explicitly defined and lawful purpose related to a function or activity of the responsible party," the law says.

This would, for example, prohibit so-called raffles that record personal data which is then sold to third parties who can call or e-mail people with "special offers" or insurance products.

There has been relatively little litigation in SA around the issue of spam and personal information and the judgement serves as wakeup call to companies to play loose and fast with personal data.

"This is probably the first substantial penalty paid by a local sender of unsolicited commercial email communications, even if it is indirectly.

"There is at least one less unwanted inbox intruder for a lot of South African internet users after the conclusion of this matter, and the implementation of the Protection of Personal Information over the next few years could well tip the scales if people exercise the rights it gives them," said Cull.


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