Junk E-mail and Newsgroup Postings, a.k.a. "spam"
E-mail is the single most prevalent use of the Internet, and the number
of people around the world using it to communicate has risen exponentially
over the last decade. Unfortunately, so has the level of Unsolicited
Commercial E-mail (UCE) and Unsolicited Bulk E-mail (UBE) which have collectively come to be known as "spam"
and which have in the last few years become a virtual tidal wave swamping
the inboxes of Net users everywhere. In early 2003, the consensus among
computing security experts was that as much as 40% of all e-mail
worldwide was spam of one sort or another, and many predict that the figure
will rise to as high as 60% within the next few years. It's not just e-mail,
either. Commercially-oriented, off-topic postings to Usenet newsgroups
are also considered to be spam, and continue to plague readers of the
thousands of groups affected.
How did the term "spam" for this stuff come
Spam® (note: capital 'S') is a registered trademark of the Hormel
Foods Corporation for a canned meat product ("spiced ham") that
has been around for more than 60 years. In the early 1970s, the British
comedy group Monty Python's Flying Circus did a television sketch that
revolved around the characters repeating the word "Spam" over
and over and over and...well, you get the idea. It's not clear exactly
when, but probably sometime in the early 1990s, when junk e-mail and postings
really began to gain steam, "spam" came into common usage to
describe them, and the Pythons' sketch is generally credited as the inspiration.
What, exactly, is "spam"?
First, let's be clear about what is not spam:
E-mail messages and newsgroup postings that are
threatening or harassing are not considered to be spam. If you
have received threatening or harassing e-mail or been the subject of similar
newsgroup postings, or you feel the personal safety of yourself or any
other person has been threatened via e-mail or newsgroup posting, you
should report it directly to Penn Public Safety at 511 (on-campus)
or 215-573-3333 (off-campus).
Having said that, pretty much any unsolicited e-mail you receive
that pitches you products, goods, services, etc. for sale can be considered
spam. When you do some things on the web, such as register new software
or buy products from legitimate vendors, they often present you with a
check box (usually pre-checked for your "convenience", meaning
you have to actively un-check it to decline) that says something like
"Send me information on deals and specials", and the box is
often easily missed due to the way it's placed on the page. This can result
in your receiving commercial e-mail that you don't remember "soliciting",
but it's not really spam, since technically, you did ask them to
send it to you, even if you didn't realize it. Most reputable web vendors
and marketers, though, will honor requests to be removed from their lists.
Spammers, on the other hand, rarely do (more on that below).
What if whatever it is the "spam" is selling
Although the people doing the selling may not be entirely honest business
people, in most cases the products, services, etc. contained in spam messages
are, on the surface at least, entirely legal. There are exceptions, though,
that include (but are not limited to):
- Child pornography - or more accurately, material depicting
sexual activity involving a minor. Owning or distributing material of
this sort is a Federal offense in the U.S., and holds similar status
in most countries around the world.
- Illegal drugs and controlled substances - such as heroin, marijuana,
- "Pirated" software, CDs, DVDs, games - sometimes
called "warez", these are illegally copied programs, albums,
movies, etc.offered at cut-rate prices, or even free in some cases
- Fraud - this includes chain letters of any sort, "pyramid"
schemes (sometimes called "Ponzi" schemes) and, in general,
fraudulent misrepresentation of the goods, services, terms of payment,
If you receive a spam e-mail or newsgroup posting that you believe is
promoting illegal materials and/or fraud, or otherwise c