Pursuant to the data of International Telecommunication Union, unfair practices on the Internet are more and more frequent. Only in January this year, almost 13 thousands e- mails sent to consumers only for the purpose of obtaining account number or access password were registered. UOKiK joined the Spam Zombie programme for fighting unfair Internet practices, developed under the auspices of the American Federal Trade Commission

As the Internet develops, also unfair practices related to it are growing in strength. One of the most important problems is spam - undesired mail sent via electronic means. At present this phenomenon relates not only to unordered mails received via electronic means, but also to short text messages (SMS) and Internet communicators.

Worse still, currently spam is not only used to market products and services, but more and more often it constitutes a tool for criminal actions - for example for illegal obtaining of account numbers or access passwords. Sending mails that seem to come from trusted senders is very common. Pursuant to the data of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), this phenomenon, the so called phishing, is growing in strength - only in January 2005 almost 13 thousands such e- mails and more than 2.5 thousands web sites supporting such attacks were registered. In comparison with October of the previous year this constitutes an increase by almost 300 per cent.

Due to the scale of the problem of unordered electronic mail and its global dimension, it is not possible to fight this problem within the framework of one institution or even one country. Therefore, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has engaged in a series of actions of international character. The most recent initiative is joining the Spam Zombie programme realized under the auspices of the American Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 35 governmental institutions from 25 countries also participate in this programme, besides UOKiK. The first action within the framework of the Spam Zombie programme is preparing and sending a letter to Internet services providers informing about preventive measures, which may be used in order to protect the consumers from unordered electronic mail.

It should be emphasised that every consumer has the right to file a complaint against a specific manifestation of spam - by filing a motion to prosecution authorities. The proceedings - in case of an offence - are carried out against the person initating the mail. Equally important is the awareness of the entrepreneurs who may use civil law procedures, since sending unordered mail via electronic means is an act of unfair competition.

Additional information:
Elżbieta Anders, Spokesperson of UOKiK
International Relations and Communication Department
Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Ph.: (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
E-mail: eanders@uokik.gov.pl