November 14, 2008

Results of Public Comment Procedure on Draft MIC Ordinance
to Partially Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Law on
Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail and Draft
Guidelines for Transmission, Etc. of Specified Electronic Mail

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has developed a draft MIC ordinance to partially amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Law on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail (MIC Ordinance No. 66 of 2002) (hereinafter, "draft ordinance") as well as the Guidelines for Transmission, Etc. of Specified Electronic Mail (hereinafter, "draft guidelines"), and invited public comment thereon from September 17 until October 16, 2008.

MIC is now disclosing the nine comments received, together with MIC's opinions thereon.

Background to the development of the draft ordinance and draft guidelines
In light of the ever-increasing unwanted junk mail, the Law to Partially Amend the Law on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail (Law No. 54 of 2008) was established to introduce an opt-in system (which allows the sending of e-mails for marketing and advertising purposes only to those who have provided permission in advance, in principle). (Enacted at the 169th Diet session, the law was promulgated on June 6.)

MIC prepared the draft ordinance to develop necessary provisions for the matters delegated to MIC ordinances under the Law. MIC has also compiled the draft guidelines to provide interpretation of the Law and the draft MIC ordinance, as well as recommended practices in transmitting specified e-mails. From September 17 until October 16, 2008, MIC invited public comment thereon, and received nine comments.

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http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/eng/contact.html

International Policy Division,
Global ICT Strategy Bureau, MIC
TEL: +81 3 5253 5920 / FAX: +81 3 5253 5924