Spam War
China's ministries of public security, education and information may soon work together to fight spam. The China Police Daily reports that the ministries would like to see 90 percent more of China's e-mail servers taking more action to prevent spam. Last year, 70 million spam messages were sent to e-mail users in China each day. Beside the fact that spam is an overabundant hassle that bogs down the Internet, the Chinese government is especially wary of spam because much of it includes "reactionary" messages, meaning illegal anti-government sentiments. Subversive ideas, most forms of gambling, and even soft-core pornography are all very affluent and very illegal in China.
E-mail security firm Postini released a study this month indicating that the United States' new CAN-SPAM Act, which took effect Jan. 1, has had a negligible effect. Postini says that Spam constituted 79 percent of all e-mail that it processed in January and 80 percent of all processed e-mail in December. Brightmail, another company that develops anti-spam technology, estimated that 60 percent of the e-mail it processed in January was spam while 58 percent of processed messages were spam in December.
Aircom Erhvery ApS, a Danish telecom equipment company, was recently fined $70,000 for sending over 15,000 spam e-mails. The company is one of the first to be convicted for violating a 2002 directive that established electronic privacy rules. All the member states of Europe were to have implemented the directive by Oct. 31, 2003, but so far only Denmark and the United Kingdom have done so.
Korea
The South Korean government has blocked its citizens from accessing three North Korean I-gaming sites, www.mybaduk.com, www.kdlotto.com, and www.jupae.com. All three of the sites are managed by North Korea Lottery, a joint venture between North Korea and South Korean software developer Hoonnet. The South Korean government, which has already canceled the inter-Korean business license of Hoonnet, is blocking the sites because gambling is illegal in South Korea. The government plans to prosecute the South Korean citizens who gambled on the sites.
Meanwhile North Korea Lottery said, "If anyone tries to prohibit netizens from logging onto our site, we will counter that move with our technology." The state-run company has backed up its promise by uploading a program called "ProxyIE" that allow South Korean users to circumvent the ban and access its three gambling sites for free.
In August the price of Lotto tickets in South Korea will be cut from $1.70 to $0.85, and the jackpot for the lottery will also be cut in half. The Korea Herald reports that the government made the cuts in to "relieve the excessive rush to buy Lotto tickets by Koreans dreaming of good times after criticism by some social organizations of excessive gambling."
Malta
The Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority's draft of the Remote Gaming Regulations is now in its final stage, and the Gaming Authority anticipates putting it into law by the end of February. The bill will lay out the necessary licensing and application requirements and will permit online casinos, sports betting, betting exchanges and lotteries.
Australia
In Australia, Opposition leader Mark Latham has been splashed all over the papers for calling for stricter gambling laws. He would like to see states become less reliant on funds from gambling and would like to see gambling establishments close for part of the day. "I think we've also got to talk to the states about over-reliance on gaming revenue. I worry that if states rely too much on gambling revenue, they won't have the incentive there to cut down on the gambling problem," he said.