Spam and Junk E-mail
“If time is money, the average e-mail user has spent a small fortune dealing with the number one nuisance of modern communication: spam.” (Bartos 2008) Spam, also known as ‘junk email,’ is advertising sent to multiple email addresses without regard to whether or not its recipients are likely to have any interest in its often questionable products or services. Spam can be an expensive nuisance, costing users time and money as they sort through the deluge of unwanted messages each working day. (Mueller n.d.) This report will describe a new way to fight spam through Microsoft’s new enhancement to its email systems, tips to help users deal with spam, and a long-range solution to reducing the amount of spam on the internet.
In an encouraging development in the war against spam, Microsoft’s latest enhancement to the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) will use a multiplayer methodology within Exchange Server 2003 to block and filter junk email within Exchange Server 2003. It can scrutinize incoming messages and weigh the likelihood, via the Microsoft Exchange Intelligent Message Filter, that an email is spam. Exchange Edge Services, scheduled for release in 2005, uses SmartScreen Technology to combine server and desktop spam filtering in both Outlook and Exchange Servers to “create end-to-end security for spam and email.” (Nevin 2004)
Nonetheless, no anti-spam software will stop all junk email. There are other useful ways to protect against spam. For example, anytime a user replies to junk email, even in responding to promises to be taken off their mailing list, they are only confirming the validity of their email address to the spammer and worsening their problem. By the same token, users should never include their actual email address in messages to Usenet Newsgroups. (Primus Canada n.d.)
Of course, both the technical solutions involving spam filtering and the user tips outlined above only address the receiving end of the spam problem. Stopping spam at its source has been proposed as a more effective solution for the long run, but it takes extra awareness and effort on the part of spam victims to implement. Much spam was made illegal by the CAN-SPAM Act implemented by Congress 2004, (Sorkin 2009b) but the law can only be effective if users report spam to the Federal Trade Commission by forwarding the offending email to where it will be filed in a database to help build a case against these persistent lawbreakers. (Sorkin 2009a)
In conclusion, this report has outlined three methods of dealing with spam: a technical solution from Microsoft, tips for email users on how to avoid spam, and reporting spam to legal authorities. Of the three methods, it would seem that reporting spam to the FTC would be the most effective in the long run, but promoting user awareness that spam is illegal and then getting them to take the extra time to forward offending emails may be a significant barrier. In the meantime, technical solutions such as spam filters will keep on filtering and users will just have to keep on deleting junk email.
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List of references
Bartos, L 2008, ‘Information Technology Industry: Spamalot’, New Orleans CityBusiness, 26 May 2008, viewed 5 May 2009, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20080526/ai_n25463201/>
Primus Canada n.d., ‘How to fight junk E-Mail’, Primus Canada, viewed 6 May 2009, <http://www.primustel.ca/en/support/residential/internet/email/spam-hints-and-tips.htm>
Mueller, S n.d., ‘Fight Spam on the Internet!’, spam.abuse.net, viewed 6 May 2009, http://spam.abuse.net/
Nevin, F 2004 ‘A New Way To Fight Junk Email & Viruses: Microsoft Exchange Edge Services To Extend Email Protection’, Processor [online] Sandhills Publishing Company, viewed 6 May 2009, <http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Fp2615%2F38p15%2F38p15.asp>
Sorkin, D 2009a, ‘How to Report Spam’, SpamLaws.com, viewed 6 May 2009, <http://www.spamlaws.com/reporting-spam.html
------2009b, ‘What are the Laws Against Spam’, SpamLaws.com, viewed 6 May 2009, <http://www.spamlaws.com/spam-laws.html
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