MYOB agrees to kill spam

CANBERRA - A company called Mind Your Own Business has agreed to live up to its name - by not sending consumers unwanted spam emails.

An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found a division of MYOB Australia E1, a business management firm, was sending commercial emails to people who had asked to be removed from the sender list.

MYOB, which stands for Mind Your Own Business, has accepted an enforcement undertaking not to repeat the error.

The emails were sent by the firm's website design division, SmartyHost.

Under the Spam Act, introduced by the previous Howard government, commercial emails must not be sent if a recipient has asked to be taken off the list.

Firms have five days to meet the request.

MYOB Australia has agreed to develop training programs, a compliance program to be monitored by ACMA and an auditing of commercial emails.

ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said businesses needed to be mindful of their legal obligations when sending out mass messages.

- AAP