Spam

Spam is the common term for "junk email." There are different definitions for it—from the very specific to the very general ("anything I don't want!"). The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 defines spam as "any unsolicited email message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service."

It May Be Spam If:

  • It is unsolicited; you did not ask for it.
  • It is impersonal to the point where the recipient is unimportant. (For example, if you are a collector of rare books, and you receive an email flyer for a rare book auction, many would NOT consider that spam.)
  • It may have a misleading subject line or a false return address.
  • It does not include a method for avoiding future e-mails from the same organization.

When advertisements arrive in your inbox for things like low-rate mortgages, miracle drugs, or cheap long distance services, you have been spammed. Spam often advertises suspicious products or "get rich quick" promotions. It is sent out at an extremely low cost to the sender, forcing most of its expenditure onto the Internet Service Providers, and thus, paying consumers.

Spam mailing lists can be created in a number of ways. Spammers will often pay top dollar for mailing lists with verified e-mail addresses.

Spammers also use a variety of "bots," that scour the Internet looking for e-mail addresses posted to websites and message boards. It is very difficult to avoid ending up on a spam mailing list, because marketers are so willing to pay for the information.

The CAN SPAM Act of 2003

New legislation has been enacted that is designed to protect you from the continued onslaught of spam.

Also known as the CAN SPAM Act, the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003" took effect on January 1, 2004, establishing a set of strict guidelines that spammers must follow in order to continue their practices legally.

In-depth information about the CAN SPAM Act can be found in this summary.

The Florida Electronic Mail Communications Act

On May 25, 2004, Governor Bush signed into law the Electronic Mail Communications Act.

In effect as of July 1, 2004, the new legislation carries no criminal penalties, only civil. In addition to other provisions, the bill prohibits commercial electronic mail messages that falsely identify the origin or identity of the sender or contain false or misleading information in the subject line.

More information about the Act can be found at this summary.

Some Tips to Help You Deal With Spam E-mail

Some providers may offer a filtering option for your email account. Check with your specific Internet Service Provider to see what options are available. Below are a few additional suggestions that can help you keep your inbox spam-free.

  • Be aware that by requesting that you be "removed" from a spammer's mailing list, you may actually be confirming that your email address works. This could result in your receiving additional unwanted email.
  • If you are posting your email address to a website or message board, consider "masking" it. This can be accomplished several ways. Instead of posting your full address, use "example AT secureflorida DOT com." Any reasonable web surfer will be able to determine your email address, but it will not be harvested by web bots. Additionally, several on-line services, such as Automatic Labs' Enkoder, will translate your email address into JavaScript that makes harvesting by these web bots a difficult task.
  • Be careful when giving out your email address. Before giving it to a website, or to anyone, find out what the privacy policy is. Secure Florida guarantees that we will neither give nor sell your email address to anyone; not all sites do that.
  • Forward spam email to the Internet Service Provider of the sender as a complaint. Sending spam is against the terms of service for most providers and therefore could result in the termination of the sender's account. In order to determine the sender's ISP, you will need to interpret the email header.

Wired magazine has an interesting discussion of how anti-spam software works.

For further information, please visit:

  • Spamcop.net, which offers a reporting service that will help you report spam quickly and easily.
  • The SpamCon Foundation protects email as a viable communication and commerce medium by supporting measures to reduce the amount of unsolicited email that crosses private networks, while ensuring that valid email reaches its destination.
  • The Federal Trade Commission website can also provide you with some good information regarding spam.
  • The Florida State University Academic Computing and Network Services website offers a very informative page called "Got Spam? Fight Back!"