Christine McCrea Shirley Lew Haidee Parker Richmond Public Library

Canning Spam from Your E-maile

Spam is slang for junk e-mail or unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) or unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE). Whatever the preferred term, most would agree that spam by any name is annoying, unwanted, and a much bigger problem now than it was a year ago. Spam is so universally disliked, that the other SPAM, the ham-in-a-can luncheon meat company, devotes an entire Web page asking that the two not be confused and even issued an official statement on spamming (they’re against it).

Not that long ago, spam was easily managed with a quick click of the delete button. It can’t and shouldn’t be so easily ignored now. Bulk e-mail from unknown sources take up bandwidth from IP servers (slowing connections), jam e-mail servers, clog the Internet, and can spread viruses. Junk e-mail can also contain offensive and fraudulent content and raises questions about privacy. For a good summary of why spam is so bad, visit Spam.abuse.net at http://spam.abuse.net .

So what’s being done? Legally, not much. In Canada (the U.S. differs), the distribution of unsolicited promotional information, in print or electronic form, is not illegal or regulated. To read Canada’s official position on spam, go to http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/english/links/spam.html .

Laws may not be forthcoming, but there are other ways to combat spam. First, don’t get on their e-mail lists in the first place! Junkbusters Guide to Staying Off Junk E-mail Lists at www.junkbusters.com http://www.junkbusters.com explains how to “reduce exposure to harvesting” and other prevention tips. For instance, replying to spam messages only attracts more spam since it confirms that an e-mail address is accurate and active--in other words, a sure target.

Once an e-mail address gets harvested, though, it is extremely difficult to get it removed. Spam filtering and block software can help and lots are available on the Web for free. For a recommended list, go to Spam.abuse.net’s tips page at http://spam.abuse.net/userhelp/ . Be warned, however: anti-spam software is an imperfect technology and may block legitimate messages. The same Web page lists free tools for hiding e-mail addresses from spammers.

If prevention and blocking isn’t enough, fight back! Reporting spammers to their service provider can be effective. Most ISPs consider spamming to be a costly abuse of their service and will respond to complaints. SpamCop at http://spamcop.net and Network Abuse Clearinghouse at http://www.abuse.net/ are two big and well-established reporting tools on the Net.

The ease and cost-effectiveness of sending bulk e-mails means that spamming will not be going away anytime soon. One study projects that over 1400 spams will hit a typical e-mail account a year by the 2006. Corporations’ bottom line will also suffer, as time spent deleting junk messages lowers employee productivity. Ulltimately, this is good news. As spamming gets worse, anti-spam tools can only get better in the near future.

This column and its links can be accessed from the web version of the Richmond Review, found on the Richmond Public Library home page www.yourlibrary.ca . Free use Internet stations are available at all three branches of the library. Comments and suggestions for future columns may be e-mailed to column@yourlibrary.ca.