Have you ever received an e-mail from someone telling you about something you do not want to hear? Well, that is internet spam, and has taken over the personal and business world over the past decade. Spam is a big issue in the US and has cost businesses and people millions of dollars to combat. Please reference my upload describing the effects of Spam on society and also how society plans to deal with this threat.

1. Joseph SantaBarbara
Professor Cook
COM- 201
June 10, 2012
Spam- A Menace to Society
Throughout our nation's history there have been eras of change. Most recently, our society has seen a huge
increase in technology and its influence in all facets of life. Technology has created a modern world of efficiency and
spectacular sights. However, the influence in technology in cultures around the world has not been all positive. With
wide-spread use of anything, there is always the threat of misconduct. The use of technology has not affected an
industry more than the financial and business world. Companies use technology as a means to increase profitability
and also to increase their 'attractiveness' to new customers. Spam by definition is "simply unsolicited e-mail, sent in
bulk. Intrinsically it presents a free rider problem: e-mail sent in large quantities has a significant cost (both on
recipients and on network administrators), which cannot be charged to a spammer who has sufficient technical skill to
conceal their identity" (Hedley, 2006) (pg. 227).
Spam is an intrusive concept, birthed by the technology boom, and has been highly disputed and regarded as
an invasion of privacy by most. However, businesses are taking the side that using spam is a way to get their company
names out there. However, there is no room for spam in the business world. Spam is highly regarded as unprofessional
and not a means to get a solid client base. Spam can use information from the web, which is a public forum, to tailor
their e-mails to display personal information of the people from which are receiving their e-mails. "Spam producers
use databases of e-mail addresses collected from public websites, create e-mail lists, or purchase subscriber lists"
(Swartz, 2003)This is viewed as an invasion of privacy by most. There are several laws that have been put in place for
the current time period and also steps in process that are for the future control of spam.
Spam is considered under different genres across cultures and the keys to success in international business are
the understanding the cultural impact of spam and whether or not it is accepted or not. Spam is not only affecting the
business world, but it is also increasing the chances for users to be susceptible to unwanted and inappropriate material.
Overall, spam is a concept which is not good for society. It costs users and businesses material amounts of money
each year to fix the problem from which is a direct cause from the use of spam. However, there are many regulations
and discussions in place to help mitigate this issue for the future.
Spam is a concept that can be judged under different lights. For some, spam is a key tactic to the profitability
of their company's business plan through the bulk communication of their advertisement through means of e-mail or

2. pop-up's. For others, it is an intrusive and expensive concept that infringes on individual's rights. "As spam grew in
bulk and began to become commonplace, it was perceived as a distinct problem, at least by ISP's. Most of the expense
was falling on them: an ISP whose customers were being heavily spammed might find that their servers were
overwhelmed by the need to process the spam; and when the recipients of the spam complained, they looked to their
ISP for a solution to the problem" (Hedley, 2006) (pg 229).Individuals computers run through Internet Service
Providers or 'ISP's ' and ISP's have certain bandwidth that they offer to clients, the more bandwidth the faster the
computer, however the more expensive it is. When individuals receive spam it takes up the bandwidth that the ISP's
provide, which the users pay for, due to the traffic. Spam costs individuals money and the opportunity cost associated
with the work they could have gotten done if their internet service was working properly. Not only does this affect the
user's bank accounts, it also affects the ISP's, who are trying to make money as well. As stated above in the reference
from the scholarly journal, users seek their ISP's for help when spam is slowing down their service. This increases the
amount of man-power it takes to support the volume of calls and it costs money to hire someone to identify the issue
and then come up with a solution. The magnitude of the problem is described as, "spamming causes manifold
problems. It wastes time for users opening spam with misleading subject lines, wastes Internet resources trying to
block it, consumes storage and bandwidth, and costs money fighting it" (Mir, 2010) (pg. 33).
Again, spam is a systemic problem. There are immense effects from the implementation of spam in
technology. Spam affects business in a major way. As stated above, it cost a material amount of money to combat the
issues of spam and studies have been completed and show that at its peak spam was increasing at an alarming rate.
"MessageLabs, which sorts through 10 million e-mails daily and inspects more than three billion e-mails are says that
an average of one in 12 e-mails was spam in 2002. But by November 2002, one in three e-mails was spam. Because of
that trend, the firm predicts that spam will outpace real e-mail this year" (Rich, 2003) (pg 9). The increase in
technology is only making it easier for spammers to complete their tasks and harder for legislative bodies to prosecute
and define those who are the roots of the issue. "The increase is a result of technology improvements that have made
spammer's jobs easier. Industry experts estimate that about one-third of the more than 73 billion e-mails sent everyday
are unwanted commercial pitches" (Rich, 2003) (pg. 9). Businesses are consumed with spam and it's not only affecting
the profitability of the service providers. "A recent Ferris Research Study found that spam costs U.S. corporations $8.0
billion annually, $2.5 billion for European businesses." (Rich, 2003) (pg 9). That is a huge bottom line factor for

3. financial statement presentation purposes. This adds a huge expense financial statement line item to a company's profit
and loss statement which can determine whether or not their company is profitable in the eyes of investors.
Also, with spam as defined as bulk e-mail many users attribute a sense of violation. E-mail addresses are
considered to be personal information to people in many situations in life and when this address is given out to the
wrong people, spam can occur. In many spam e-mails, there is personal information that gives individuals an eerie
feeling especially in a time period where identity theft and online misconduct is at an all time high. "Cyberspace has
been equated with the home of an individual which needs protection from unwanted communication" (Mir, 2010) (pg
43). Not only do individuals get a sense of violation with the implementation of spam into technology, but it also
opens the doors for children to be exposed to graphic images. This is not a good trend for society. The World Wide
Web does increase the chances for people to expose to socially unacceptable content, but the key with spam is that it is
involuntary. Due to the involuntary nature of this exposure, parents of children who spend time on computers and
other technology means, have to spend their earnings on protection such as parental controls.
One would think that when there is a malignant problem, then there should be a solution, or one in the work
to help mitigate the risk of a material problem. "Just as the volume of spam has increased since 2000, so too had the
number of anti-spam laws around the world" (Schryen, 2007) (pg. 24). This is a must in for the future of the internet,
e-commerce and e-mail itself. Spam or bulk e-mails are desensitizing the use of e-mail to where if this problem
continues without a viable solution, then e-mail users could boycott the use. Legislation that has been put into play to
help mitigate the use of bulk e-mails from large username lists. One can be put on these lists by clicking a link to a
website automatically entering their personal information onto this company's mailing list. However, to help mitigate
this subconscious agreement, there have been parameters set for e-mail lists. Now users have to 'opt-in' or 'opt-out' to
either deny these bulk e-mails or to accept the receipt of them. Opt-in means that one physically clicks a box on a
website or in some other fashion agrees to receive e-mails from the applicable company. Opt-out is a tactic used by
companies that is makes users physically click a box or similar fashion to not receive e-mails. This is a marketing
tactic used by companies in e-commerce. Many people are in such a rush, or have so much bulk e-mail to go through
because of spam, that they do not completely read online contracts or similar sorts. Therefore, one might miss the fact
that at the end of the website, they needed to 'un-check' a box that was already pre-filled out, in order to be
disregarded from the e-mail listing. Marketers for e-commerce businesses find that this tactic is useful because many
people are negligent to completely reading all contracts and material pertinent to the task at hand.

4. In the early 2000's there was litigation in several instances where individuals tried to seek monetary
compensation for damages caused from spam and unsolicited e-mail. "Laws may make further requirements of e-
mails. The CANSPAM Act 2003, for example, prohibits the use of a harvested e-mail address, requires that
advertisement or solicitations are identified clearly and conspicuously, and requires that each e-mail contains a
functioning return e-mail address or other Internet-bases mechanism that allows the recipient to opt-out of the
commercial e-mail lists" (Schryen, 2007) (pg. 30). The CANSPAM Act of 2003 was the first national standards for
the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission to enforce its provisions. CANSPAM
stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act. When this legislation came out
in 2003, many people were furious because it thought of as a law to allow spam, which it did in some fashion.
However, many people did not research this legislation. There are an immense amount of provisions set in this act to
protect the public and mostly, children. However, there are several issues with this act, "Personal emails and email
updates and advertisements that have been consented to be are not covered under this law. Also not covered are
'transactional or relationship messages,' which are emails that pertain to agreed-upon transactions or emails that update
a customers in an existing business relationship. That is because these types of emails are not technically spam - they
are a result of previous consent or a business relationship." (Spam Laws: The United States CAN-SPAM Act, 2003).
This is a loop-hole in the law. Those who are most affected by spam are the public through personal e-mail.
The future of e-mail is in question with all of the effects of spam on the community. The only ways to solve
the issues of spam is harsh and drastic measures. "Some proposals would require drastic changes to the e-mail system:
for example, by limiting acceptance to known senders or to those who satisfy challenge/response protocols." (Coffee,
2003) This is a scary thought for the future of e-mail. Responding to protocol in order to send an e-mail may reduce
the affects of bulk, un-solicited e-mail, but it increases the time it takes to send a simple message. This increase in
time to send a simple e-mail will deter individuals from using e-mail all together.
As technology increases, so will the ability for individuals to commit crimes and negatively affect the public.
Technology is a venue of society that has no bounds and seems endless in its ability to encompass all realms of life.
Technology affects communication in a huge way and has a direct relation with e-mail communication and the misuse
of techniques which cost individuals a material amount of money. Spam affects all facets of life and can influence
those who do not expect it. Marketers and advertisers use different spam tactics to increase their profitability by

5. getting their name out there. However, due to the distaste in society from which spam has, it is not proper business
etiquette to use spam and is not a profitable business plan. Spam costs businesses and individual's material amounts of
money. It costs money for individuals to protect themselves against the threat of spam and for businesses; it takes
away employee's time from actual work. This delay in the productivity in employees deters profitability. The main
reason for all of the issues faced is due to the fact that laws and regulations did not keep pace with the technology
boom.

6. Bibliography
Coffee, P. (2003). Future of spam control. EWEEK , 38.
Hedley, S. (2006). A Brief History of Spam. Information & Communication Technology Law , 224-238.
Mir, F. A. (2010). Control of spam: a comparative approach with special reference to India. Information &
Communications Technology Law , 27-59.
Rich, M. (2003). Spam Costs Businesses $13 Billion Annually. The Information Management Journal , 9.
Schryen, G. (2007). Anti-Spam Legislation: An Analysis of Laws and Their Effectiveness. Information &
Communications Technology Law , 18-32.
Spam Laws: The United States CAN-SPAM Act. (2003). Retrieved June 11, 2012, from Spam Laws:
http://www.spamlaws.com/spam-laws.html
Swartz, N. (2003). The International War on Spam. Capital Edge: Legislative & Regulatory Update , 18-24.