A new law in Switzerland banning spam took effect on Sunday, April 1, 2007. The law makes sending spam from Switzerland a punishable offense and brings Switzerland’s anti-spam laws into line with the US and EU. Offenders can face up to three years in prison and $82,566 in fines.

The most interesting (and unique) component of the legislation is that it places responsibility on end-users. Computer owners who fail to protect their machines from spam bot infection may now be help accountable and punished if spam is found to originate from their machines.

Is this what it will take to solve the botnet pandemic?