Spam is unsolicited email sent for the purpose of advertising a product or service, usually to a potential customer who is unrelated to the company. Its physical equivalent around the world is spam that arrives unsolicited in recipients’ mailboxes. Spam is considered by many in the computing world to be a major nuisance and can even be harmful.
Spam is the modern version of junk mail in a traditional mailbox.
In some cases, email disguised as spam may be malicious in nature and not intended to advertise a product or service. In such cases, senders develop a way to make the email look spammy, hoping that recipients will visit a website from which viruses can be downloaded to their computers. While not true spam, unsolicited emails make it difficult to find malicious intent.
Spam poses a very real threat to millions of email users around the world.
The most malicious type of actual spam may be one that downloads spyware or adware onto a user’s computer. In such cases, the emails may direct users to a particular website where this software is downloaded. The software can then cause malfunctions or very official-looking pop-up messages, warning users that they need to purchase a certain product to clean their computers.
Because of the problems spam has caused, many countries have tried to regulate spam and hold the companies that send it accountable. However, in some cases this has raised constitutional challenges, especially in the United States. Due to free speech issues, banning spam becomes problematic and many laws have been overturned.
Therefore, realizing that there would be constitutional challenges to banning spam altogether, the US Congress passed legislation regulating the use of spam. Certain elements must be present in any unsolicited email, such as: an option to allow recipients to remove themselves from the mailing list, a business physical address and phone number, and other elements. Sending pornographic images is also restricted. Each violation can cost $11,000 US dollars (USD), making it a very expensive form of advertising for businesses.
The problem many face when regulating spam is that it may not originate within the borders of the regulating country. Therefore, finding the violators, known as spammers, becomes almost impossible and prosecuting these people becomes even more problematic. Many may not be traceable and those that are may be in countries where there are very few, if any, anti-spam laws. Therefore, any law remains only partially effective at best.
To counter the ineffectiveness of anti-spam laws, the best option may be an email system that filters out perceived spam. This is normally sent to a dedicated folder within the email software. However, this does not fully protect the user because most anti-spam software can inadvertently filter out valid emails. Therefore, users should still review the filtered email to ensure that they are not missing any legitimate emails.
Many countries have tried to regulate spam and hold the companies that send it accountable, but banning it is problematic.
