EU companies sending nuisance e-mail and texts to Irish people could be fined up to €3,000 per message, according to new legislation.
The Government has outlawed nuisance e-mail and text messages from EU countries. Businesses will now be able to instruct those sending "spam" to stop forwarding the unsolicited material.
The Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, yesterday signed the measures into law as part of an EU-wide initiative. However, the legislation will not apply to those sending messages from the US, Africa and Asia - where the majority originates. Mr Ahern said he hoped to use Ireland's EU presidency, which begins in January, to build "a global partnership" to clamp down on spam worldwide.
A Government spokesman said the spam situation was "very difficult to police" but that if EU companies sending nuisance material were traced, they could be liable to "very hefty monetary sanctions".
Mr Ahern signed into law measures under the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations, 2003.
"We have all suffered from spam or unsolicited e-mails and texts. My move will make it illegal to spam the public within the EU without their consent," he said. "We live in an exciting electronic age which offers great opportunities but also requires some form of inbuilt rights for consumers. Every time we log onto the Internet, send an e-mail, text someone or use our mobile phone, that information and pattern of behaviour is effectively logged."
Fine Gael's communications' spokesman, Mr Simon Coveney, welcomed the outlawing of spam. He said Mr Ahern has "taken on board" details of a Fine Gael draft bill on the issue.
"Any effort on behalf of the EU to reduce the amount of spam appearing in people's in-boxes on their computers is extremely good news, especially for businesses in Ireland.
"A recent UK study estimated the cost of spam to businesses at €57,000 per year for those employing more than 500 people. If the same costs were to reasonably apply in Ireland, then the top 1,100 companies would face a cost of €62.7 million per year."