The European parliament has voted for legislation to ban junk email and to protect the privacy of web surfers.

The UK and other member states are expected to adopt the directive, which will cover text messages and other electronic messages received on mobile or fixed devices, by the end of next year.

An 'opt-in' system where consumers must tick a box saying they want to receive marketing email will replace the current 'opt-out' process.

The directive is an attempt to combat the growing problem of spam. Over a third of all messages received in corporate networks are unsolicited commercial mail, according to analyst Gartner.

But the legislation has been slammed for not tackling the problem of email sent from outside the European Union.

Most spam affecting UK companies comes from outside the EU, but those individuals or companies will not be bound by the new law, according to François Lavaste, vice president of anti-spam technology firm, Brightmail Europe.

"The current legislation will only solve 10 per cent of the problem," he said. "A combination of legislation and a technological solution will work towards addressing the other 90 per cent of unsolicited electronic marketing communications that European consumers and businesses receive."

Ecommerce companies also got a boost from the vote, which rejected proposals to introduce tough restrictions on the use of cookies on websites.

MEPs had wanted to classify cookies as 'spyware', and insisted last year that surfers must be able to give explicit consent before a website's cookie could be stored on their PC.

Under the new directive cookies can be used to collect valuable marketing data providing the consumer is given adequate information before using the website.

UK organisation the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) had feared that the restrictive measure could cost UK companies in excess of £187m and cause major disruption to the growth of ecommerce.

Danny Meadows-Klue, chairman and chief executive of the IAB, said the amendments were a "victory for common sense".

"The IAB has fought long and hard to achieve this outcome and, although not perfect, the new wording will allow the online and interactive industries to develop practical solutions to deliver consumer protection as well as fast and efficient internet usage," he said.