IT departments will shoulder the costly burden of updating marketing databases and cleansing client lists to comply with Australia's Spam Bill, Baker & McKenzie e-commerce expert Adrian Lawrence warns.

He said compliance will place pressure on IT resources for legislation that that will be "largely ineffective" because up to 95 per cent of spam is sourced from overseas.

"This could be a potentially expensive compliance burden to ensure electronic communications do not breach the law. A single e-mail can be considered spam under the legislation, meaning, at least in theory, that each and every e-mail sent in a commercial context might need to be considered in light of the new laws," Lawrence said.

In addition to reviewing database lists, he said companies will need to be diligent when vetting correspondence for e-marketing purposes.

"Many businesses would be shocked to find that their standard marketing and promotional activities may now be characterised as spam," he said.

Claiming the proposed legislation is "too loosely defined", Lawrence believes the only outcome likely to occur as a result of the Bill is that a few local spammers will be made examples of, and forced to move offshore.

Business, he said, simply rely on filtering software to manage electronic communcations not legislation.

Although the Bill aims to reduce the cost of managing spam for business Lawrence said it may have the reverse effect with compliance proving costly.

Responding to the claims IT Minister Daryl Williams admitted local laws alone will not solve the problem but it will provide a springboard to the development of international agreements.

Inn the short to medium term, Williams said Australia is developing Memoranda of Understanding with overseas agencies for joint co-operation on anti-spamming issues.

"In time, we expect that this interaction and cooperation will lead to bilateral and multilateral agreements on enforcement activities against spammers, possible along similar lines to the existing international consumer protection arrangements in which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission participates," he said adding that NOIE is working directly with the European Commission.

The Spam Bill is expected to take effect in 2004.