Cunliffe David: Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Cunliffe David: Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 27 February 2007. Volume:637;Page:7714. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Communications) 
: 
 I move  
That the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill be now read a third time 
. This bill is an important part of the Government’s Digital Strategy. The aim of the Digital Strategy is to ensure that New Zealand is a world leader in using information and technology to realise our economic environmental social and cultural goals. Ensuring that users have trust and confidence in the use of these technologies is central to achieving this goal. Unsolicited electronic messages more commonly known as spam now comprise about 80 percent of all email traffic worldwide. Spam clogs up networks reduces productivity and is often used for scams and malicious cyber-attacks. Always spam is a nuisance. Sometimes it can be critical both for systems and personal security. 
Spam continues to grow in volume worldwide and is often a channel for viruses scams and attacks on computer networks and systems. It has been estimated to reduce the productivity of office employees by several percent and to provide a drain on productivity that this country can ill afford. It runs the risk further if unchecked in New Zealand of giving us the reputation of being soft on cyber-crime—a reputation we would wish to avoid. 
Accordingly this bill aims to prevent New Zealand becoming a haven for spammers to promote good e-marketing practice and to provide a basis for further international cooperation on combating spam. With this legislation New Zealand now joins many other countries that have also enacted anti-spam legislation. The legislation enables us to join the global fight against spam. International cooperation to identify shut down or block the sources of spam is an important part of New Zealand’s anti-spam strategy. It also complements a number of other initiatives being undertaken by other agencies to improve Internet security and safety working in partnership with the community sector. Here in particular I recognise the work of the Internet Safety Group. 
The key requirements of the bill are that persons must not send unsolicited commercial electronic messages that have a New Zealand link and that commercial electronic messages must have accurate sender information and contain a functional unsubscribe facility. Persons must not use address-harvesting software or a harvested address list in connection with the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages. The legislation applies to all emails text and instant messages that market or promote goods services or schemes of a commercial nature. A sender must have the prior consent of the recipient. This consent can be expressed inferred or deemed but this is clearly an opt-in approach consistent with good e-marketing practice as recommended by the New Zealand Marketing Association and an opt-in scheme as adopted by many partner Governments including the European Union Governments and the Government of Australia. 
Electronic communication offers many benefits and the bill seeks to support its use for legitimate marketing purposes where the interests of the recipient are duly respected. There is a 6-month transition period before the bill comes into effect. This gives organisations a reasonable period of time within which to ensure that their e-mail practices and databases are in compliance with the Act. It is important to underscore that this bill alone will not solve New Zealand’s spam problem which is growing rapidly. Rather it sits with improved technical interdiction measures the primary locus of which will continue to be within Internet service providers themselves and major commercial networks and with enhanced user education so that all New Zealanders understand how to protect themselves from cyber-attack and the nuisance of spam. This bill will play an important part in providing that third leg of the Internet security treble—a sufficient and appropriate legal sanction against spammers with a New Zealand link. The New Zealand link modelled on the Australian legislation includes not only people within our territorial boundaries but people who attack New Zealanders and who are from countries whose Governments we are able to negotiate enforcement agreements with. The ability for us to negotiate such agreements will be an important part of implementing this agreement on a bilateral and I hope also multilateral basis in years to come. 
In conclusion the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill is important legislation that reflects the significant role that information and communications technologies play in our lives now and will play in the future. The bill has received widespread support within the House the business and information and communications technology sectors and the general community. Every person who uses a computer connected to the Internet can relate to the nuisance of receiving spam. The bill promotes good e-marketing practice and provides a basis for international cooperation to combat spam. We know that it will not in and of itself stop spam. However it will send a clear message to would-be spammers that New Zealand is no longer a haven for spamming and it will be an important building block in the broader effort to combat this phenomenon. As such I commend the bill to the House.