Ottawa has announced an action plan that it says will cut down on all that unwanted e-mail clogging Canadians' inboxes, commonly known as spam.

Industry Minister Lucienne Robillard says spam is becoming an increasing problem for business and personal e-mail users, noting that electronic junk mail now accounts for half of the world's e-mail traffic.

"While some would argue that spam is just an annoyance or occasional intrusion, evidence suggests that its effects are increasingly harmful," Robillard explained.

She says the processing and managing spam costs Internet service providers money. What's more, the annoyance is hindering the growth of e-commerce, and discouraging many Internet users from using e-mail.

To help end the problem, her department is setting up a task force to study how to crack down on unwanted e-mail. It will present its findings next spring.

Comprising representatives from Internet service providers, cable companies and scholars,
Industry Canada's Spam Task Force will review the effectiveness of current privacy laws to fight spam and consider the need for new legislation specific to ending spam.

The task force will pursue a six-point action plan that includes:

• a review of how to better use existing laws and regulatory measures;
• a review of regulatory or legislative gaps;
• improvement of current industry practices;
• use of technology to validate legitimate commercial communications;
• enhancement of consumer education and awareness;
• and the promotion of an international framework to fight spam.

According to panel member Tom Copeland, the task force is charged with more than merely discussing the issues.

"This isn't just a study process, where for the next year we're going to be looking at the problem," the Canadian Internet Service Providers president told CTV.ca in an interview from Ottawa. "We've done that."

"What we intend to do now is move ahead with recommendations and implementations throughout the industry."

By November, Copeland said, the panel hopes to produce an interim report that "will not be so much about how the study is going, but rather how the battle against spam is progressing."

According to the Industry Minister, getting to work right away is imperative.

"We cannot allow spam to continue to threaten the reliability of e-mail communications and erode confidence in the Internet," she said.

According to panel member Michael Geist, the tipping point could be fast approaching.

"Canada is the second source of spam worldwide behind the United States and risks becoming a spam haven unless action is taken," the University of Ottawa e-commerce expert told The Canadian Press.

In her comments, however, Robillard warned Canadians not to expect the introduction of a sweeping new law designed to end the problem.

"Nor is there something that any one business or even one sector can do to solve the problem alone. Governments, Internet service providers, marketers and consumers must address this issue together. Each has a role to play."

The United States introduced its own "can spam" legislation on Jan. 1. It requires unsolicited e-mails to include a mechanism so recipients can indicate they do not want future mass mailings.

The legislation also prohibits senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from disguising their identity by using a false return address or misleading subject line, and it prohibits senders from harvesting addresses off websites.

The European Union also introduced new digital privacy laws last year that require companies to get consent before sending e-mail, tracking personal data on websites or pinpointing callers' locations via satellite-linked mobile phones.

For her part, Robillard said new legislation isn't a priority for the government. Instead, a review of existing legislation that covers fraud, privacy and a host of related crimes should be conducted to see how enforcement can be stepped up.

Copeland agrees that there are already provisions in law covering spammers' below-the-board activities.

"Canada has some laws that could be effective, if they were only enforced," he said.

In the meantime, the Industry Minister said Canadians can join her in taking a personal role in the effort to cut down the flood of unwanted mail.

"Don't answer the e-mails or they will get your address and make the problem worse," Robillard said. "Just delete."