|
What
is Spam?
Other
than a damned nuiscance of course.. :}
Spam
is unsolicited bulk e-mail that is used for commercial
(and often illegal) purposes. Something may be considered
spam if it is not inherently offensive, but is an advertisement
that has not been requested by the customer.
However, spam attracts many of those who are involved
in illegal pursuits as well. Unsolicited e-mails touting
a political candidate or a religion is not usually considered
spam, because it is non-commercial. However, many people
find these e-mails annoying and would like to see them
fall under the general category of spam. E-mail is the
most common medium for spam, but spam can also creep up
in Instant Messaging, Cell phones, blogs and newsgroups.
Spam
is a popular way of forcing one's message on to an unwitting
recipient, because, unlike direct mailing, it costs nothing
and is harder to trace.
Many
spammers find that the average account has a very low
entry to invasion, and even if spam ends up in a user's
bulk mail, he or she usually browses through the subject
line before deleting.
The
costs of spam to the public are immense; many work hours
are lost because of workers having to deal with spam in
their e-mail accounts, and e-mail providers must offer
larger space to deal with the influx of spam.
It
is estimated that the average person receives 5,000 spam
messages per year, but this is a conservative estimate.
A business owner receives hundred of spam e-mails per
day, and if some of these are not blocked by filters,
the load can amount to about 100 spam e-mails a day, even
with filter working 80 or 90 percent of the time. There
is little wonder why many people are so vehemently opposed
to spam and want to put an end to it.
However,
Spam is not always "commercial" in nature, sometimes
it can actually be far more dangerous. Some Spam is sent
to try and infect your computer with a virus (see Virus
Tips for more info) or even to get a spyware worm
on to your computer (see Spyware
Remove for more info.).
A
Virus can do many things to your computer, including deleting
files and sending itself on to all the contacts in your
address book. Viruses can also be sued to hijack your
PC and internet connection to then attack websites on
the internet. This allows virus programmers to blackmail
websites in to not attacking them with what is called
a "Denial of Service" attack, which simply means
the website crashes from too many visits, costing the
owner money.
Spyware
can potentially be even more dangerous to you personally,
as it is often designed to grab sensitive information,
like your passwords and credit card details, and send
it out to the spammer/spyware designer to use for their
own purposes, such as Identity
Theft or credit card fraud.
Where
does the word spam come from?
"Spam",
which is also the name of the popular Hormel luncheon
meat, received its name from a Monty Python sketch. This
comedy series ran in Britain in the late 60s, and the
famous "Spam Sketch" features a woman who wants
to order something in a diner.
The
woman behind the counter says "We have spam and eggs
and spam, spam, spam and etc.." (there is no dish
without spam). The customer tells the waitress to hold
the spam and she refused. Meanwhile, a group of vikings
periodically break out into a song praising spam, and
this song drowns out the dialogue.
The
comedy in this sketch reflects the nature of spam. First
of all, you get spam "on your plate" whether
your order it or not. Secondly, spam drowns out your e-mailing
conversations and distracts you from what you want to
accomplish.
There
has been some legislation enacted against, spam, including
the recent Can Spam Act. This law, however, is applauded
by spammers and anti-spammers alike, since it outlaws
the most pernicious forms of spam, but seems to allow
general, unsolicited advertising. This was disappointing
to many, especially to Calfornians, who wanted to see
all forms of spam made illegal.
Many
people are hoping for stricter anti-spam laws, while others
question the effect such laws would have on freedom of
speech. However, many people see spam as an invasion and
not a right.
|
