Junk E-mail Home Page

Electronic mail (e-mail) has become an integral part of our everyday lives and jobs as we rely more and more on it for establishing and maintaining communications with our families, friends and peers. In the work environment, e-mail is a catalyst for streamlining business practices by reducing paper pushing in support of the paperless office and reducing the number of incoming calls. More convenient, faster and less expensive than postal mail, e-mail has become a significant tool for worldwide telecommunications. When this form of communication is uncluttered it is a pleasure to use.

However, not unlike postal mail, commercial interests eventually invaded this personal communications arena and intrude on our privacy and productivity. The result is an increasing influx of Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE), or junk e-mail. In 1999, the average consumer received 40 pieces of junk e-mail. By 2005, Internet researcher Jupiter estimates, the total is likely to soar to 1600.

The potential for abuse did not go unnoticed. Users were already becoming concerned. This concern prompted the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to draft a Request for Comments (RFC 2635) addressing the issues of Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (spam) and its effects on the Internet environment. Several years later the Network Task Force published another Request for Comments (RFC 3098) titled, :"How to Advertise Responsibly Using E-Mail and Newsgroups - or - how NOT to $$$$$ MAKE ENEMIES FAST! $$$$$."

We all have received junk mail through the USPS postal service (snail-mail) and just throw it away. Why should junk mail received electronically be any more annoying? With postal junk mail the sender pays the majority of the cost for distribution. In contrast, the majority of the burden of cost for electronic junk-mail is reversed, everyone but the sender pays for it and the volume can become overwhelming. While no monetary postage is affixed to it directly, all users and service providers must pay indirectly with slowing network response due to increased load to transmit, transfer and process, as well as loss of storage space. As a result, we pay higher connectivity costs to offset the technical impact of junk e-mail, pay extra to have the Internet Service Provider (ISP) filter out the junk e-mail clogging their systems or purchase a commercial filtering program for our PC. Beyond the monetary costs associated with spam there is the time-wasted to read, recognize and remove it from the e-mail inbox.

Junk e-mail is usually annoying but harmless commercial advertising. However, junk e-mail can sometimes be

Surprisingly, even spam can be intruding on your privacy by collecting information with the use of web bugs. When used with junk e-mail it can include the e-mail address as a web bug parameter thus providing a more complete picture of who and where you are. Spam is the electronic equivalent of getting junk mail through the Postal Service. If you use email, you are going to get spam.

In a survey done by the Gartner Group, a direct relationship between the length of time a user stayed with their Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the increased chance of receiving junk e-mail was found. Based on other questions in the survey it would appear that users did not change their e-mail address while with an ISP. Thus, the length of time with an ISP is probably not the determining factor for junk e-mail received, but the length of time with the same e-mail address is most likely the cause. Another point of interest was that 64% of the users were receiving junk e-mail in less than 2 months of receiving their new account. By year four the total had reached 95% of the users were receiving junk e-mail.

Although junk mail is primarily "Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail", the abbreviation "UCE" is seldom used. The word "spam" has become the universal term to identify this annoying product. "Spam" is the Internet equivalent of postal service junk mail

Several sources claim to be the origin for the use of the "spam" term. Interactive MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Multi-User Dimension) gaming communities and CHAT line users would send repetitious messages to disrupt the flow of the game or conversations. It could fill up the screen and obscure ongoing conversations.

With Usenet (Internet newsgroups) it originally meant the receipt of many off-topic, inappropriate and unwanted postings. The quantity of the messages tended to obscure the primary topic of conversation. The first major spam I remember occurred in April 1994. Two Arizona lawyers, Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel, sent an advertisement to over 6,000 newsgroups (millions of readers) offering their services with the immigration "Green Card Lottery." Because of the repeated and broad-based postings of this advertisement, the annoying posting of this message became a major topic of discussion and debate for many months thereafter.

From: Laurence Canter (nike@indirect.com)
Subject: Green Card Lottery- Final One?
Newsgroups: alt.brother-jed
Date: 1994-04-12 00:40:42 PST

Green Card Lottery 1994 May Be The Last One!
THE DEADLINE HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED.

The Green Card Lottery is a completely legal program giving away a
certain annual allotment of Green Cards to persons born in certain
countries. The lottery program was scheduled to continue on a
permanent basis. However, recently, Senator Alan J Simpson
introduced a bill into the U. S. Congress which could end any future
lotteries. THE 1994 LOTTERY IS SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE
SOON, BUT IT MAY BE THE VERY LAST ONE.

PERSONS BORN IN MOST COUNTRIES QUALIFY, MANY FOR
FIRST TIME.

The only countries NOT qualifying are: Mexico; India; P.R. China;
Taiwan, Philippines, North Korea, Canada, United Kingdom (except
Northern Ireland), Jamaica, Domican Republic, El Salvador and
Vietnam.

Lottery registration will take place soon. 55,000 Green Cards will be
given to those who register correctly. NO JOB IS REQUIRED.

THERE IS A STRICT JUNE DEADLINE. THE TIME TO START IS
NOW!!

For FREE information via Email, send request to
cslaw@indirect.com

**********************************************************
Canter & Siegel, Immigration Attorneys
3333 E Camelback Road, Ste 250, Phoenix AZ 85018 USA
cslaw@indirect.com telephone (602)661-3911 Fax (602) 451-7617

The "Green Card Lottery" postings created a flurry of newsgroup member postings complaining about the off-topic message that further flamed the distribution of discontent as the complaint discussions were cross posted. A spin-off to the posting of irrelevant, inappropriate or highly controversial message to a mailing list or newsgroup created a different type of spam. For example, posting a message to any computer list asking the question, "which is better, Windows or Unix," will usually start a Spamfest and Flamewar. Instead of recognizing and ignoring the bait, a flood of replies will usually result along with replies to replies, and on and on until it finally dies out. These controversies could last days or weeks. This is like throwing a block of SPAM into a rotating fan. You might say this is what it is like when it "...hits the fan." It is hard for real work to get done when this is going on.

Eventually these unwanted commercial messages found their way into e-mail and have proliferated into the nuisance e-mail we receive today. It began shortly after the Internet was opened to commercial communications in the mid-90s. The widespread use of "spam" in the e-mail environment has certainly brought the term to broad cybernet usage, recognition and understanding. As far as the broadly accepted source of the word "spam", it is based on a sketch from the British comedy show, Monty Python's Flying Circus.

The Internet usage of the term "spam" has nothing to do with the commercial food product called SPAM ® (SPiced hAM) luncheon meat, a registered trademark of Hormel Corporation for its processed meat product.. However, the prevailing theory of its origin is based on a Monty Python's sketch that appeared in the 25th episode, on the 15th of December, 1970, . The sketch was about a restaurant that serves SPAM with every meal. In the sketch a customer tries to order a meal without SPAM. To the side was a table of SPAM-loving Vikings. When they hear the word SPAM they would joyously sing a song about their love for SPAM. This particular customer did not like SPAM. The song quietly started of with the words, " SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM..." The Vikings would sing the song, rising in volume and drowning out other conversations. In fact, during the 2.5 minute sketch, the word SPAM would be used more than 100 times. Thus, the analogy of unwanted messages drowning out normal Internet communications.

As expected, Hormel Foods objected to the use of their trademarked :SPAM ® term for cyberspace junk mail. They have since withdrawn their objection. They now have a position statement on the use of a term they have trademarked as it relates to SPAM and the Internet. In essence, the food product SPAM is correctly spelled with all upper-case letters while the slang term for junk e-mail , "spam" is spelled with all lower-case letters. Case closed.

It is very common for an ISP or IT organization that provides an e-mail service to a diverse user community to receive questions, comments and complaints about the junk e-mail they received. Users get annoyed and want the e-mail provider to eliminating all spam from the users messages. While the receipt of junk e-mail is annoying to both the e-mail provider and the user, the broad range of interests and occupational diversity within a large organization make it extremely difficult to design an effective spam filter at the server side of e-mail delivery. Multilayer filtration should be utilized.

No matter who does the mail filtering,
the end user should have the final authority for the disposition of their own mail

The e-mail service provider should be the first line of defense for protection from junk e-mail. Anyone operating an e-mail server should disable "mail relaying" for hosts outside of their local domain. This prevents spammers not in your domain from using your mail server for sending spam to you and others. The Network Working Group published their Request for Comments (RFC 2505) best current practices for "Anti-Spam Recommendations for SMTP MTAs. At the University of Florida, Information Technology Security Policy Guidelines states that "mail transfer agents (MTA) should be configured to prevent third-party or open relays." E-mail service providers could also filter junk messages that can be positively identified. An example of this would be the removal of messages containing viruses. In addition to viruses, IFAS IT goes farther and removes all potentially harmful message components that are executable. Because of the potential for deleting a valid message, the mail message is still sent to the recipient, minus that component which is executable. In its place, a message alert is included that would notify and allow the recipient to retrieve the removed component if they felt it was safe. An example message alert follows:

** Network Associates GroupShield Exchange **
** Alert generated at:
** Saturday, July 27, 2002 10:48:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
*************************************************

The file WIDTH.exe has been replaced.
Please consult your administrator for further help
and remember to quote your ticket number:
OA1998_1027781310_NT-EXCHANGE

Additional filtration by the service provider could also be done but there is increased chance for deletion of valid messages. User oversight of their filtered messages must be possible for reliable filtration. The more filtering done by the e-mail service provider, the greater chance there is for blocking legitimate messages. Even with service provider filters in place, the final filtration of the remaining messages must be done by the recipient of the message.

Usually, through no direct fault of your own, your e-mail was scavenged off the Internet. Any place that you have given your e-mail address could be a potential source for others to collect, distribute or to resell. Spam mailing lists are created in a variety of ways, including scanning Usenet discussion groups, buying or stealing Internet mailing lists, searching the Web for addresses, and even just guessing email addresses at random.

The first four items on the above list are susceptible to automated data collection by robots, spiders, and webcrawlers. These are useful programs that traverse the Internet and gather information. Usually used for only gathering search engine database information, a variant of these programs just looks for e-mail addresses. This variant is called a spambot. A spambots primary function is to find and follow links to collect e-mail addresses for a spammer to use in their mailing lists. You can't avoid them if your e-mail address is listed on the Internet because they do not follow the "rules for exclusion" that are normally followed by spider, robots and webcrawlers that limit their searching. They will gather any and all e-mail addresses they can find.

Also, any company that you have done business with may have your e-mail address. Unless they have a privacy policy that states they will protect your personal information (and honor the policy), your address could be shared or sold to other individuals or companies. Institutional and commercial on-line phonebooks may have e-mail addresses available for easy access. Public institutions would have e-mail addresses listed. Spammers don't care if it is a personal e-mail address or a generic address. Somebody still has to see the message and that is all that matters.

There is no way to avoid spam completely. The longer you use an e-mail address, the more likely it will be discovered and eventually receive spam that will only increase over time.

In general, probably not. Don't even try unless you are dealing with a well known company or listserver. Even these attempts can be frustrating. Unless you live in a state or country that has laws against spam, there is little incentive to go after the source. E-mail filtering is your best bet.

At first it may appear that there is a simple solution. Many junk e-mail messages include various statements of justification at the end of their messages. These messages may indicate it is the only one you will receive, or specify a law that allows them to be sent, or just tells you to reply with the word "REMOVE." Do NOT reply to the message.

Usually the option to send a "remove" request cannot be sent as a reply to the sender because they get bounced back as undeliverable. The account has already been deleted. If not returned, the messages may get ignored, if you are lucky. If not lucky, you have just verified to the spammer that your e-mail address is actively read and should be retained and possibly sold to other spammers.

Your chances of being removed from an unknown spamming list are miniscule at best. Don't try. If you request removal., you have a better chance of being added to new spam lists. The only real method for complaining to the source is to decipher the message header to try and determine the origin. Deciphering the true meaning of a header is not for the novice. Reading and understanding the header is intended for the more advanced user. Decoding an e-mail header can be a difficult and frustrating task. The more time efficient method is to create message filters for your mail client.

Most likely you or someone you know has already received some spam. Why else would you be reading this information? The natural question is, what should I do with it? Well, you can read it if you are curious. Open at your own risk since content can be quite varied and may be offensive or a scam. But, this will get boring after awhile. Than it will get annoying. Now what do you do, or for now, what should you not do when you get spam?

From the above recommendations it should be clear that the primary objective is to avoid authentication of your e-mail address. Any communication will usually result in continued and increased reception of spam.

Even if the e-mail server has procedures in place to remove various types of junk e-mail and viruses, some spam will still get through the server filters and reach your mailbox. When this happens there are several things you can do to deal with the remaining spam.

Consider trying one or more of the free filter programs. They may be adequate for your needs. It is possible to have more than one filtering application running at the same time. If things really get out of control, contact your e-mail service provider for help.

The suggestions given below are guidelines to help you limit the reception of junk e-mail. They are provided as food for thought and ideas for action.

Managing spam takes time, but the payback is worth it. If you are an active user of the Internet, spam is an unfortunate but now an expected evil. Understand how it happens and make the necessary changes to protect yourself.

If you are interested in reading or doing more about the fight against spam, a number of anti-spam resources are available on the Internet.

To ensure that we understand both sides of the conflict, visit and read
Point / Counterpoint.