Bosses of nuisance call companies could be hit with £500,000 fines in a Government crackdown on unwanted calls and texts.

英国政府出台了一项新规定，意在遏制骚扰电话和垃圾信息的泛滥。根据规定，骚扰电话拨出公司的负责人将被处以50万英镑的罚款（约合人民币500万元）。

Up to one billion cold calls are received by British families each year leaving many elderly people 'too scared to answer the phone', ministers said.

各相关部门的部长表示，英国家庭每年接到大约十亿个推销电话。许多独自在家的老人“都不敢接电话”。

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said nuisance calls were a 'plague' on families and had to stop.

文化部长艾德·维济（Ed Vaizey）将这些骚扰电话比作一场急需制止的“瘟疫”。

The Government's Nuisance Calls Task Force said new rules should be introduced to make company bosses responsible for cold-callers causing ‘severe distress’ to families.

政府成立的“骚扰电话调查小组”表示，应该出台新规让那些对人们生活带来“严重骚扰”的推销公司付出代价。

Under the plan, Payment Protection Insurance cold-callers could face fines of up to 20 per cent of their annual turnover.

受这项规定的影响，“支付保障险”的电话推销员将面临高额罚款，处罚金额高达年营业额的20%。

Which? executive director and taskforce chairman Richard Lloyd said many British firms were ‘breaking the law’.

调查小组的执行董事理查德·罗伊德（Richard Lloyd）在接受BBC节目采访时表示，英国许多公司“都在违法”。

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the way in which the law was enforced had not been good enough.

但是，执法力度还不够。

Mr Lloyd said the trade in personal data, responsible for the vast majority of nuisance calls, was ‘out of control’. He also called on regulators to clamp down on the abuse of existing legislation.

由这些公司主导的个人信息贩卖，已呈现愈演愈烈的态势。但是罗伊德也告诫道，决策者应避免现有法律的滥用。

‘We want to see business with good reputations that aren't keeping a close enough eye on this making sure that there is someone senior on their board who will be held to account if those nuisance calls are being generated by that businesses activity,’ Mr Lloyd said.

“大众希望看到声誉良好的公司由更高一级的人在监督，一旦有骚扰电话从该公司拨出，就会有人承担责任。”罗伊德说。

Between April and June this year, 40,000 people complained to the Information Commissioner about unwanted live or automated calls to their phones.

在今年的4月到6月，英国信息专员办公室共收到4万份人工或录音骚扰电话的投诉。

Most focused on accident or PPI claims, as well as some debt consolidation company calls.

被投诉的骚扰电话多数向民众推销意外险和支付保障险。另外，还有来自债务整合公司的推销电话。

The Nuisance Call Task Force said many consumers did not know that they had unwittingly given their consent to be contacted by these companies.

调查小组称，许多民众并没有意识到，接听这些公司的电话其实是无形中允许这些公司联络他们。

Mr Vaizey said: ‘For too long, nuisance calls have plagued consumers, often at very inconvenient times of the day and in some cases, leaving vulnerable people like the elderly too scared to answer the phone.

维济表示，“一直以来，广大消费者深受骚扰电话折磨。它们经常在人们不方便接电话的时候来电，这让许多独自在家的老人害怕接电话。

‘That's why we're determined to tackle this scourge through the first-ever nuisance calls action plan.

“这是我们决定用首个骚扰电话行动计划痛击骚扰电话的原因。”

‘We've already made progress, including making it easier for Ofcom to share information with the ICO about companies breaking the rules, and we're currently looking at lowering or removing the legal threshold before firms could be hit with fines of up to £500,000.’

“目前调查小组的工作已经取得一定的进展。我们加强了英国通讯管理局和ICO的合作，降低了排查违规公司的难度。同时，我们将降低处罚范围，罚金最高可至50万英镑。”

（翻译：菠萝油八戒 编辑：Helen）