The Amsterdam institute for information law published a study (commissioned by Sybari software) about the impact of the new anti-spam regulations in the EU. Their conclusion is not encouraging. "An important limitation on the effectiveness of the E-Privacy Directive is the simple fact that most spam originates from outside the EU. (...) Beyond that, the effectiveness of the E-Privacy Directive depends on its implementation in national legislation. So far, implementation has been rather slow in a number of countries." The study warns about large differences in the EU in the legal protection of corporate users and users which are not subscribers. The most important recommendation is for the EU to take additional actions to promote effective enforcement mechanisms.

Regulating spam: Directive 2002/58 and beyond (April 2004)
http://www.solidground.nl/IViR-sybari/ivir-sybari-final.pdf