Internet service providers (ISPs) have reacted angrily to claims by an MP that they are not taking the problem of spam seriously.

On the eve of the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group's (APIG) spam summit, Derek Wyatt MP, joint-chairman of APIG, said that ISPs had been "almost negligent" in their dealings with the problem.

Wyatt told vnunet.com that ISPs had been "pretty quiet" on the issue of spam and were only now starting to implement solutions - which he said don't go far enough.

ISPs, he said, don't do anything to help track down the spammers and he warned that if they didn't get more involved in helping to stamp out spam, the government could force them to through regulation.

"[ISPs] are worried that we are going to whack them. The government doesn't want to take action, it doesn't want to regulate," said Wyatt.

He added that it would take a mixture of technology and some form of international legislation and policing under the auspices of a body such as the World Trade Organisation or the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to bring the problem under control.

But the ISP Association (ISPA) disagreed with Wyatt's position. "[Wyatt] has made similar comments before but we dispute it. ISPs don't like spam; it costs them money and annoys their customers so they are doing a lot to combat the problem," said Brian Ahearne, ISPA's communications manager.

"The problem is that there are people out there who are determined to send spam."

Ahearne said that he hoped the spam summit would show that ISPs had become proactive and were just as eager to stamp out spam as the MPs.

Steve Ashworth, technical consultant at email equipment and software provider Mirapoint, agreed that ISPs were in the perfect position to identify spammers, but said that the government should be prepared to meet some of the costs.

"Who is going to pay for the equipment and software needed? I believe that if ISPs have to fund it themselves then they will do the bare minimum and I don't think ISPs should be out of pocket," he said.