Protecting Against Spam

Spam is not only an annoyance to the users that receive the mail, but it also costs them money. All users make use of ISP’s (Internet Service Provider) in order to get online, and, more often than not, they have to pay per minute that they are online. The simple annoyance of sorting through ones email, trying to figure out what is and is not junk mail, wastes time and money. Therefore users must learn how to protect themselves against being spammed.*

There are several ways for users to defend themselves against the bombardment of unsolicited email. First, and perhaps most obviously, a user must try to avoid entering his or her email whenever possible. Do not use an email address on a website, in a profile, or when signing up for something online. If it is necessary for an address to be in public domain, a user can create a separate address and keep their personal one private.**

The main reason spam continues to be sent is that, on occasion, it will work. It works because every so often, a user will end up buying the product or service being sold. Since the ability to email so many people does not take much time or money, a spammer does not need a very big response for the action to be considered a success. Therefore one suggestion that is made in order to stop the act of spamming is for users simply to be sure not to use anything that the spam is offering.*** For links to more information and tools to help get rid of spam, go to Everything Email.****

There are also several organizations dedicated to the eradication of spam. For example, CAUCE (Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Emails), who’s website can be found at CAUCE*****. It is trying to get rid of spam through keeping users informed about the problems, as well as working towards furthering legal actions against spammers. There are many other sites like this, working towards a common goal. For instance, the site Arachnoid.com****** contains a list of domain names that allow spamming. However, since spamming is consistently increasing, additions always need to be made.

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* http://email.about.com/internet/email/library/weekly/aa090197c.htm June 8, 2001.
http://www4.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_1180.html June 9, 2001.
* http://email.about.com/internet/email/library/weekly/aa090197c.htm June 8, 2001.
**http://everythingemail.net/email_unsolicited.html June 8, 2001.
*http://www.cauce.org/ June 8, 2001.
****http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/antispam/spamdomains.txt June 8, 2001.