A system to impose fines of up to 6 percent of related sales on illegal spam senders and businesses that neglect prevention obligations will take effect next month.

The Broadcasting Media and Communications Commission said on Tuesday it held its 34th plenary meeting and approved a partial revision to the enforcement decree of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, along with a draft notice to be enacted, containing those measures.

The revised enforcement decree specifies standards for actions an information and communications service provider must take if its service is used to send illegal spam.

Providers must take steps including stopping the transmission of advertising information, checking and improving weaknesses in security systems, improving user contracts and terms of service, establishing and implementing a recurrence-prevention plan, restricting services or terminating user contracts.

Fines will be imposed at 1 to 6 percent of related sales depending on the seriousness of the violation. Benchmark amounts set for cases such as when related sales are difficult to calculate will range from 100 million won to 2 billion won.

A notice approved along with the decree, titled "Notice on Standards for Imposing Fines Related to Violations of Laws on the Transmission of Advertising Information," includes procedures for calculating fines and standards for increasing or reducing them.

The seriousness of a violation will be classified as high, medium or low based on factors including intent or negligence, the method and means of the violation, the type of violation, and the scale and impact of damage.

If a fine has been imposed within the past 3 years, the amount can be increased by 30 percent for 1 prior case and by 50 percent for 2 or more. It can also be increased by up to 30 percent in cases such as destroying evidence, obstructing an investigation, or leading the violation.

On the other hand, the amount can be reduced by up to 30 percent depending on whether there was economic gain, and by up to 50 percent for public institutions, non-profit corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises. It also sets grounds for a reduction of up to 30 percent for voluntary reporting, stopping and correcting the violation before an investigation begins, and restoring damage.

Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chair of the Broadcasting Media and Communications Commission, said the revision and enactment of subordinate regulations including the enforcement decree and notice would help resolve the problem that illegal spam transmissions have not been eradicated. He said the commission would continue to identify and improve tasks so that people can use digital media services with greater peace of mind.

The revised enforcement decree and the revised and enacted notice approved on Tuesday are expected to be promulgated and take effect on Oct. 1 after approval by the State Council and vice-ministerial meetings.