Boycott Internet spam! Here you will find everything you'd want to know about
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Electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup/list postings.
Some people define spam even more generally as any unsolicited e-mail. However, if a long-lost brother finds your e-mail address and sends you a message, this could hardly be called spam, even though it's unsolicited. Real spam is generally e-mail advertising for some product sent to a mailing list or newsgroup.
In addition to wasting people's time with unwanted e-mail, spam also eats up a lot of network bandwidth. Consequently, there are many organizations, as well as individuals, who have taken it upon themselves to fight spam with a variety of techniques. But because the Internet is public, there is really little that can be done to prevent spam, just as it is impossible to prevent junk mail. However, some online services have instituted policies to prevent spammers from spamming their subscribers.
There is some debate about the source of the term, but the generally accepted version is that it comes from the Monty Python song, "Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam…" Like the song, spam is an endless repetition of worthless text. Another school of thought maintains that it comes from the computer group lab at the University of Southern California who gave it the name because it has many of the same characteristics as the lunchmeat Spam:
Nobody wants it or ever asks for it.
No one ever eats it; it is the first item to be pushed to the side when eating the entree.
Sometimes it is actually tasty, like 1% of junk mail that is really useful to some people.
The following resources address:
Hiding Email | Block-Filter Email | Parental Control Email | Reporting SPAM | More | A Simple Solution
More on How To Deal With Spam:
http://www.junkemail.org If done through the postal mail or the telephone, these would be considered classic fraud, and in email, they are becoming known as "spamscam".
http://spam.abuse.net/ one of the best anti-spam sites on the net
http://www.spews.org Who you can assume is sending spam
The origin of spam
According to Webmedia.com, there is some debate about the source of the term "spam," in reference to unwanted e-mail.
But the generally accepted version is that it comes from the Monty Python comedy skit that includes the line: "Spam Spam Spam Spam. Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!"
Like the skit, in which the word spam is constantly repeated in reference to a breakfast food, Webmedia says, "spam" is an endless repetition of worthless text.
Another theory about the name "spam" is that it came from a computer-group lab at the University of Southern California, which gave it the name because it has many of the same characteristics as the lunch meat Spam: Nobody wants it or ever asks for it; no one ever eats it; it is the first item to be pushed to the side when eating the entree.
But, "sometimes, it is actually tasty, like 1 percent of junk mail that is really useful to some people," Webmedia.com reports.
-- Wayne T. Price
KING OF SPAM IN POETIC JAM By JOHANNA HUDEN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 28, 2002 --
IF anyone deserves to be snowed under by junk mail, it's Alan Ralsky. He's built a fortune on the annoyed backs of others: You've almost certainly received one of the billion spam e-mail messages Ralsky sends every day. One of the world's top five online spammers, he's now fuming mad about receiving . . . what he dishes out. Ralsky bragged to the Detroit Free Press's Mike Wendland about his often devious yet legal spam practices (he uses aliases, re-routes through foreign countries, never leaves any tracks and breaks security measures) and huge profits. But the story also had lots of info on his new home. So an anti-spam Web site was able to post the address of Ralsky's new $740,000 mansion. Within days, Ralsky was getting literal tons of junk mail, including catalogues and ads . . . at his home. Happy Holidays, Alan! Will he learn his lesson? I highly doubt it: Ralsky's been in trouble before. In October, Verizon sued Ralsky and won a settlement for an undisclosed sum and barred him from ever sending an e-mail to any of its 1.6 million customers in 40 states again. Back in 1992, Ralsky was convicted of selling unregistered securities; he served a 50-day sentence. In 1994, he was convicted of falsifying documents defrauding financial institutions in Michigan and Ohio and ordered to pay $74,000, later losing his real-estate license. Ralsky swore to his wife that he wouldn't get involved with sex-oriented e-mail spam. He's all about the medical quick-fixes, financing and weight-loss. During the tour of his home, he told the Detroit Free Press: "This wing was probably paid for by an e-mail I sent out for a couple of years promoting a weight-loss plan." But who needs (or reads) this crap, anyway? Nearly 40 percent of e-mail I get every day is useless junk - and often damned insulting. Who says I need to repair my credit? How could I be pre-approved for a credit card by a blind e-mail? And (since I live in a shoebox rental studio), what's to mortgage? Thanks, but I don't need to "lose 10 pounds in 10 days." And why oh why would I care that "underage teen sluts get raunchy and kinky for you Johanna Huden"?!? Especially first thing in the morning? "It's really annoying getting blitzed by spam every day," says one male who wouldn't go on the record. "Every other e-mail I get is an ad for Viagra or penile enlargement. Why do these people assume I have some kind of problem?" And the ultimate insult is when these bottom-feeders clog your mailbox with crap and send along a lovely little virus. But just like one-celled amoebas, the spammers seem to multiply and just can't be killed. The Verizon decision nearly broke Ralsky, but he's back on his feet making a quick buck - after he sorts the morning mail, that is.
"They've signed me up for every advertising campaign and mailing list there is," says Ralsky.
"These people are out of their minds. They're harassing me."
You reap what you sow.
E-mail: jhuden@nypost.com