What is spam?
Spam is to the Internet what junk mail is to the postal service, i.e. unsolicited e-mail, known to net users as UCE (unsollicited commercial e-mail).
Spam is the leading complaint of Internet users. But junk e-mail is more than just annoying, it costs Internet users and Internet-based businesses millions, even billions, per year. Junk e-mail is "postage due" marketing; it's like a telemarketer calling you on reverse charges. The economics of junk e-mail encourage massive abuse and because junk e-mailers can get into the business very cheaply. The volume of junk e-mail is increasing every day and all the predictions are for it to get worse. Although various solutions have been advocated, there is no consensus on how to deal with the problem.
Technology alone can't stop junk e-mail. As long as there is an economic incentive to send junk e-mail, users and Internet Service Providers will need some legal recourse to stop the growing flood. That's why in 1997 the American organisation CAUCE (Coalition Against Unsollicited Commerical E-mail) proposed an amendment to the Federal statute in the USA, which outlaws junk "faxes" (47 USC 227) to also prohibit junk e-mail. Legislation is also pending in the EU. See our guide European Union laws on spam.
