From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3197634a10,00.html

Anti-spam law change proposed 24 February 2005 Organisations that send spam could be fined up to half a million dollars and individuals $200,000 under legislation to be introduced to Parliament. Communications Minister David Cunliffe said yesterday that introducing the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill would be a priority but no date had been set. The bill "will be an important step in the war against spam," Mr Cunliffe said in a statement. "The legislation will complement codes of practice, technical measures and consumer education to help fight the deluge of spam. It will also help New Zealand's efforts to address this problem at an international level." The bill will apply to e-mails, text messaging and instant messaging requiring that senders of multiple commercial electronic marketing messages only send them to people who have agreed to get them. Senders of promotional electronic messages will be required to stop sending messages if recipients decide to opt out. The bill will also set out requirements relating to accurate sender identification and the provision of an unsubscribe facility. Maximum penalties under the proposed law will be $500,000 for organisations and $200,000 for individualise. The Department of Internal Affairs will enforce the law. "While this bill alone will not solve the problem of spam it is an important step alongside other measures to ensure New Zealand is not a soft target for spammers," Mr Cunliffe said.