Washington - United States authorities on Thursday called on organisations in 59 countries to close loopholes in cyberspace that allow people to hide their identities in sending "spam," or unsolicited email.
The Federal Trade Commission and other agencies said they were asking for the closing of so-called "open relays" that allow people "to avoid detection by spam filters and law enforcers," according to an FTC statement.
Open relays allow third parties to route their email through servers of other organisations, disguising the real origin of the email.
US regulators identified a thousand potential open relays, 90 percent of which were in 16 countries: the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Germany, Taiwan, Mexico, Britain, Chile, France, Argentina, India, Spain and Canada.
The agencies drafted a letter which was translated into 11 languages and signed by 14 US and international agencies, urging the organisations to close their open relays to help reduce spam.
The announcement was made at the same time the authorities announced 45 criminal and civil law enforcement actions against Internet "scammers and deceptive spammers."
"Today's Internet is not a lawless environment," said Howard Beales, director of consumer protection for the FTC.
The charges relate to auction fraud, illegal sale of controlled substances, get-rich-quick scams, illegal advance-fee credit card offers, and identity theft.
Agencies involved in the "NetForce" crackdown include the US Postal Inspection Service, Securities and Exchange Commission and dozens of state agencies.
The effort is also coordinated with regulators in Australia, Canada, Japan and Chile, the FTC said.
- Sapa-AFP