The Danger of Spam - Essay Example

The Danger of Spam For the countless users of the World Wide Web, email has become a main source of communication for those who find themselves at opposite sides of the globe. Hundreds, if not thousands, of emails are sent on a daily basis. In most cases, users send high volume amounts of correspondence on an hourly time frame. With that being said, a large contributor to the amount of email that an individual may find in their email account belongs to the Bulk Mail section, which is also considered the section which takes the "spam" email.

Like many other computer servers, email servers can crashed if overloaded, which can happen suddenly with the event of higher than usual junk mail being intercepted. With sometimes up to 150 pieces of spam email possible for an individual user, it can be said that spam email is a real problem, which in the end, needs a real solution as it comes to fixing it. To put into perspective the volume of spam capable, "E-mail spam has existed since before the beginning of the Internet, and has grown to about 90 billion messages a day, although about 80% is sent by fewer than 200 spammers.

Botnets, virus infected computers, account for about 80% of spam. Laws against spam have been sporadically implemented, with some being opt-out laws and others being opt-in. SPAM DUDE! The total amount of spam has leveled off slightly in recent years. The cost of spam is borne mostly by the recipient, so it is a form of postage due advertising," ("E-mail spam" p.1). One would have to wonder as to how it could even be legal to mass produce such email. According to the website spamelert.org in a piece on the legality of spam, they write that, "In the United States spam is legally permissible according to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, provided it follows certain criteria: a truthful subject line; no false information in the technical headers or sender address; "conspicuous" display of the postal address of the sender; and other minor requirements.

If the spam fails to comply with any of these requirements, then it is illegal. Aggravated or accelerated penalties apply if the spammer harvested the email addresses using methods described earlier," ("Legality" p.1). "Anti-spammers contend that spam is much more than just a nuisance or inconvenience to the message recipients in that it places physical as well as financial burdens on the Internet system and Internet service providers. This is because spam costs very little for the spammer to send while most of the costs, such as transmission costs and measured telephone service, are paid for by the carriers and recipients of the messages," ("Internet" p.1). All in all, spam is a type of email that serves no purpose to those who receive it and is a way for the sender to send out on a mass basis that which is not relevant to even is aware of.

Stronger enforcement of existing laws must be done to protect email users from this sort of 'attack' on the communication source which many have come to rely on. As it comes down to it, average citizens have the right to not want their email boxes inundated with useless junk mail on a massive basis. In an era of online shopping and web surfing, individuals still should have the legal right to have their privacy insured, even through something like their email box. As a citizen of the United States, an individual is granted rights to privacy and such.

With regular mail becoming more obsolete, with the exception of those few who still pay their bills by mail, email has become and continues to be a gateway for those who wish to transmit information as quickly as possible, as is the case especially for those who seek to pummel unsuspecting recipients with unwanted email. Each and every time someone goes to their email to check their inbox, it is a sad day when a good majority of the mail received is from not just a source they have never heard of, but a source of no value at all in the first place.

References"Legality of Spam- Your legal rights with respect to internet and email spam law." Accessed: 8 April 2008. URL: http://www.spamalert.org/articles/legal.phpRich, Lloyd R. "Internet Legal Issues: SPAM." Source: The Publishing Law Center. Copyright: 1999. Accessed: 8 April 2008. URL: http://www.publaw.com/spam.htmlWikipedia: The Free Online Encyclopedia. "E-mail spam." Accessed: 8 April 2008. URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spam