15 Nov 2007

Spammers warned not to set up shop in Cook Islands

1:35 pm on 15 November 2007

Spammers thinking about setting up in the Cook Islands are being warned they do so at their peril.

New legislation clamping down on Cook Island spammers is to be tabled in parliament later this month.

Telecom Cook Islands stops about 200,000 spams a day but its chief executive, Stuart Davies, says spam is still getting through.

At the moment spam or unsolicited emails are originating from abroad but Mr Davies believes the Cook Islands may be targetted by spammers who've been prevented from operating in other countries.

"The spam is not originating in the Cook Islands, it's originating in other parts of the world but with Australia and New Zealand in particular having closed the door on spammers they're going to be looking for other jurisdictions which may be a bit soft and which they can easily get into so we don't want the Cook Islands to become a haven for these people to come to, so this will mean that anybody who comes to the Cook Islands and tries to do spam, does so at their peril."

Chief Executive of Telecom Cook Islands, Stuart Davies.

A public information session on the global influence and effect of spam will be held at lunchtime tomorrow at Te Atukura grounds.