Wave of the Future (Spam) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

20 Jun 2001

...
 who'd gladly send spam that conformed.  In the
paper world, it's called 
"junk mail" and it seems to be quite popular.  In the e-mail world, at 
least half the junk I get does have reasonable attribution to the source.
The "problem" with spam is that it apparently works for some scams,
and that there's plenty of people willing to try it. 
    Another difference between junk snail mail and spam is that the junk
mailers actually have to pay for each item they send out.  Not true with the
email spammers.  The only thing that holds them back is the lack of
addresses and those are readily available from companies on eBay and such. 
Anything that is free and readily accessible will always be exploited by
some, regardless of how it affects others.

    Jeff