Germany proposes hefty fines for spammers
People sending junk email, or spam, in Germany will face fines of as much as 50,000 euros ($65,190) according to a draft law agreed by Germany's ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens.
"Spam email is a big problem. It causes economic problems and costs people a lot of time," Daniel Holstein, a research associate for the Greens, the junior partner in the government, said on Friday.
"We hope that (the fines) will make people think twice about sending spam," he told Reuters. The law will have its first reading in the lower house in the second week of March.
Some 80 percent of emails sent worldwide are spam and research has shown that junk communications can cost billions of euros. Companies have to buy extra computer capacity to cope with the influx of emails and workers waste time checking spam, Holstein said.
The law will prevent spammers from disguising their name or the nature of the email.
