48 Firms Caught for Sending Spam Mail

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) caught 48 companies including Kookmin Card, Samsung Electronics, Kookmin Bank for sending advertising commercial mail (Spam mail) without specifying company name and address.

FTC caught the companies, which sent mails without address, phone number, and name of the company, as follow-up measures for the measure against Spam mail announced on the 23rd last month, and sent the list of them to police and related administrations.

The disclosed companies are communication companies like KT and Hanaro Telecom, electric home appliance makers like Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Sambo Computer, credit card companies like Kookmin Card, LG card and BC Card, along with major companies like Samsung Corp., Kookmin Bank, CJ Entertainment, Korea Air Line, and SK. Famous Internet business firms including Skylove, Netian, Auction, Damoim, Intizen, Korea.com, Lototo and Hani were on the list.

The company sends advertising commercial mail omitting the information on the company can be sentenced to suspension of business license for 15 days, imprisonment up to 3 years or fine up to 50 million won by the law on door to door sale.

In addition to them, FTC announced that it informed police of 6 companies, which had run adult web sites or sold e-mail address.

FTC plans to punish for △omitting name of representative, e-mail address, and license number in the e-mail, △ sending mail with false or exaggerated title, and △ continual sending of mail in spite of refusal of reception from July when Online Trade Protection Law is put into force.

Joong-Hyun Park sanjuck@donga.com