Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) yesterday said that Internet spammers would be fined if they continued to send junk e-mails without permission.
"Many people, including myself, have been bothered by junk mail," Chen told reporters at a press conference. "We hope that the right to say `no' can be protected."
Chen also said that the ministry has amended Article 22-2 of the Law for the Protection of Computer-managed Personal Information (
According to the amendment, Internet junk mail senders must ask for the recipients' authorization the first time correspondence is sent before sending any more e-mails. If the recipient refuses, junk mail senders who continue to send correspondence would be subject to a fine of between NT$20,000 and NT$200,000.
For junk e-mail that has no identification or return e-mail addresses, the Internet service providers (ISP) would be responsible for providing contact information if requested by customers.
Chen said that the amendment would not necessarily adversely affect e-commerce. The spirit of the amendment is to reserve a right for Internet surfers to decline junk mail, he said
"Actually, junk mail may not be turned down by every Internet user," Chen said. "Some of them do enjoy receiving the latest information about different products. Under this circumstance, both the junk mail sender and the recipient will be happy."
Chen also said that local banks or credit card companies could be leaking customers' personal information to junk mail message senders.
"In addition to amending the law, prosecutors are also trying to figure out who is selling and leaking information," he said.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
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