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CAN worried parents breathe a sigh of relief? Offensive spam should be easier to filter out thanks to a US law that from now on will require sexually explicit emails to carry a warning label. But whether spammers will comply remains to be seen.

Almost 1 in 10 emails are thought to be sexually explicit spam. To protect computer users, particularly children, the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates communications in the US, now requires unsolicited email that links to or contains sexual material to include “SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT:” in its subject line.

The new regulations, which came into force on 19 May,…

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