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SPAM |
What is spam? |
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Spam, also known as Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE) is a huge problem for internet users. This type of mail, or junk mail, takes the form of pyramid schemes, chain letters, phone sex lines, ads for pornographic web sites, get rich quick schemes, false health deals, and pyrated software. |
Why is spam a problem? |
| While spam is cheap to send, it is not so cheap to receive. Every user must pay to help alleviate the costs required for the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to deal with spam. ISP providers purchase a certain amount of bandwidth, with which they provide access to users. When an ISP's bandwidth is filled due to large amounts of spam, the ISP has just a few choices to use. They can eat the cost required to deal with the spam, allow the customers to deal with slower access speed, or they can raise their service rates and purchase more bandwidth. In any case, money will be lost, most likely by the consumer himself. |
How can you protect yourself? |
There are several different steps you can take to protect yourself against spamming. 1) Filtering- Many e-mail providers now have a filter function that you can activate. Activating a filter will automatically go through all the e-mails you receive and only allow those that the program does not recognize as spam enter your inbox. While this is a good solution, spammers have already figured out a way around this protection by altering the point of origin (which is a key query filters use to sort) for their e-mails. 2) Install spam filtering programs- There are programs available that provide your computer with a list of spammers. Your e-mail program can use this list to sort through your incoming e-mails and identify those that are spam. This type of program is available for purchase as well as for free over the Internet and is more extensive than the filtering programs your e-mail provider may offer. 3) Provide an alternate e-mail- Spammers may receive your e-mail address from information you provide at the various sites you visit while surfing. To avoid providing spammers with your primary e-mail address, use a different one when filling out information, or checking boxes, requested by sites you are unfamiliar with. This is not full proof method, but this will help to avoid some spamming. |
Recourse |
| Currently, there is no national law regulating the sending of UCE. There have been and still are cases under litigation, but no successful legislation has come about at the national level. There is help though. Twenty-one states currently have laws regarding the use of spam on the Internet. For a complete list of the states and links to their laws please visit the legislation link. To provide you an example, Maryland (the state I currently reside in) passed into law in 2002 legislation that makes it illegal to send junk mail with misleading, unauthorized, or false information. Those found guilty can be sued for $500 per message by each receiver and $1000 per message by the ISP. This law also protects the right of ISP's to filter and block spammers. |
Resources: |
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