Spam plan for Canada

After studying the issue for two years, the Canadian government felt it had enough information to do something about spam. Unfortunately, what it decided to do is strike a task force to study the issue for another year or so.
That pretty much sums up what we reported a couple of nights ago on CTV National News.
Seriously, though — some things to remember as you consider the news in the press release.
First, a federal election is just about to be called, likely on June 28. Traditionally, task forces and other committees struck just before elections are lame duck initiatives as the incoming post-election government will frequently shut down the committee or change its mandate altogether.
Second: As many experts noted, including my friend Michael Geist (appointed, I might add, to that very same anti-spam task force), Canada already has some reasonably effective anti-spam tools at its disposal. Canada can use its anti-fraud laws, its competition laws, and its unique-in-the-world federal privacy laws to combat spammers. What's needed, as Geist et al said, is more resources for enforcement. We've got the laws we need already and we ought to use them.
Still, even if Canada was completely effective and shut down all the spammers operating in the country, we would only be getting rid of about 6.8 per cent of the world's spam, says Sophos Inc. Most of the world's spam — 57 per cent — originates in the U.S., Sophos says, and that's tops in the world. (At 6.8 per cent, Canada was second, followed by China at 6.2 per cent.)
One anti-spam measure I hope gets some serious consideration is e-postage. No, I'm not kidding. Read what a really smart guy like Tim Bray (and others) has to say about combatting spam using a modified form of e-postage. This proposal also gives the world's post offices something to do in the digital age.