Spam Information
Manual
What is Spam?
Spam is defined as an unwanted, unsolicited e-mail. This can come in the form of commercial
e-mails in which someone is trying to sell you something, or in the form of
fraudulent e-mails in which people are trying to get money from you!
How can Spam negatively impact you?
Spam can have several negative impacts on the people who receive
it. For starters, Spam is a seemingly
never ending entity which can fill your mailbox to the top. This is an abuse of your time and energy in
trying to sift through your mailbox to find the “real” mail. You can correlate this to the telemarketers
of the phone, and the junk mail in your mailbox!
Another negative effect of Spam is that they are often related
to sites that you may not want to see on your computer. I have received Spam (with visuals) about “high
school honeys”, “increasing your penis size”, and “how to obtain Viagra on
line”. This may seem funny at first, but
I can tell you that in a work environment, you can’t get it off your screen
fast enough! Additionally, who is to
stop your children (and students) from receiving this “junk”!
Additionally, some Spam contain viruses
that can dominate your computer, and every computer that you have an e-mail
address to! It can be difficult to tell
who sent the Spam, therefore, difficult to know if there is a virus
attached. Some spunky Spammers actually
send Spam which appears to be an advertisement, but beware,
it may really be a virus.
What can you do to prevent Spam?
There are several things that you can do to decrease the
likelihood of receiving Spam e-mails.
The basics are as follows:
Ø
Do not e-mail lists of addresses. It would be better to not make a list of
e-mail addresses in the first place. – People do this all the time! You get a great e-mail, so you forward to all
of your friends. In turn, your friends
e-mail it to all of their friends. Keep
in mind that all of the e-mail addresses from each person are now on the
list. If a Spammer gets this, it’s like
gold! Instead, e-mail each person separately,
and don’t forward your e-mails.
Ø
Don’t respond to a Spam e-mail – This lets the Spammer know that
you “live” there. This will only
perpetuate the issue.
Ø
If the Spam e-mail has an option of “remove” to get your name
off of the list, DON’T use it! Again
this only lets them know that you are home!
Ø
Don’t sign up with sites who promise to remove your name from
Spam lists. These may be Spam address
collectors just preying on the naive.
Ø
Take Action! Write your
representatives, senators, and even the Federal Trade Commission! Let them know that you are tired of junk
e-mail and that you want something done about it!
There are other steps that can be taken to prevent Spam e-mail
which include Spam filters, tracking Spammers and contacting their host sites,
or working with people who’s basic goal is to stop
Spam!
Is there any legal way to fight Spam?
FEDERAL
Ø
The CAN-SPAM act of 2003 is the latest and greatest in the
federal laws surrounding Spam. As with
all laws, however, Spammers can find a way around it. This law applies to Spammers labeling there
mail as commercial e-mail, however, they can choose the terminology. Additionally, under this law, each Spammer
can still mail you once, and it is your responsibility to do whatever the
Spammer decides, to get off of there list!
For Complete Law visit: http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/108s877.html
STATE
Ø
The
For Complete Law visit: http://www.spamlaws.com/state/md.html
What other resources are available to me?
The following is a resource list for issues on Spam.
Information on Spam:
Death to Spam - http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/nospam.html
Anti-Spam Home Page - http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/antispam.html
Federal Trade Commission Spam Page - http://www.ftc.gov/spam/
Filing Complaints
about Spam:
Federal Trade Commission - https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
Forward e-mail Directly to FTC – SPAM@UCE.GOV
Spammers Lists
Known Spammers E-mail Addresses - http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/antispam/spammers.txt
Host and Domain Names Which Permit Spammers - http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/antispam/spamdomains.txt