People sending junk e-mail, or spam, in Germany will face fines of as much as 50,000 euros ($65,190) according to a draft law agreed by Germany's ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens.
"Spam e-mail is a big problem. It causes economic problems and costs people a lot of time," Daniel Holstein, a research associate for the Greens, the junior partner in the government, said on Friday.
"We hope that (the fines) will make people think twice about sending spam," he told Reuters. The law will have its first reading in the lower house in the second week of March.
Some 80 percent of e-mails sent worldwide are spam and research has shown that junk communications can cost billions of euros. Companies have to buy extra computer capacity to cope with the influx of e-mails and workers waste time checking spam, Holstein said.
The law will prevent spammers from disguising their name or the nature of the e-mail.
It has been illegal to send spam in Germany since July last year, but the ruling coalition hopes that the new legislation will help provide more effective protection.
