Spam is generally defined as unsolicited and unwanted e-mail messages, the electronic equivalent of junk mail, and is indeed named after Hormel's famous spiced ham in a can. These e-mail messages were likely dubbed "spam" because they are as undesirable as ham in a can. Spam’s purpose can be to sell goods or services (legitimate or not), advertise money-making schemes, solicit opinions, harass, or advertise web sites. Spamming is considered bad netiquette and unethical because it wastes time and money.

Although they are a nuisance and still considered junk mail, e-mail messages, newsletters, and advertisements from legitimate businesses to whom you gave your e-mail address are not considered spam. If you receive such e-mail, there should be  instructions for unsubscribing at the bottom of the message. Chain letters claiming you or a sick child will receive money for each e-mail message sent can also be annoying, but the sender is probably just an innocent victim of a hoax. A polite reply to the sender advising them of the hoax and requesting they not send you such e-mail in the future is usually an appropriate response.

Spam, by comparison, is deliberately sent and is costly. Spammers often conceal their identities and use Internet Service Providers' (ISPs) equipment, storage, and resources; most of these costs are then passed down to subscribers. Undeliverable e-mail also fills network and disk space, increasing Internet traffic and congestion. ISP’s are subject to complaints from irate recipients who conclude that since the ISP delivered the mail, they must be an "accomplice to the crime," thus tainting the ISP's reputation.  In 1996, AOL's court injunction stopped the receipt of more than 1.9 million spam e-mail messages per day from Cyber Promotions, Inc. In AOL's case, subscribers spent an estimated 5,200 hours per day reading/deleting spam. This doesn't even include the time spent to create e-mail filters and/or to complain to ISP administrators.

What You Can Do

? Never respond to an unsolicited e-mail message. Responding to spam verifies the e-mail has reached a "real person." The spammer can use this information either to continue sending you spam (possibly under different aliases), or sell your e-mail address to other spammers or even legitimate businesses.
?Never sign up with sites that promise to remove your name from spam lists. There are two kinds of these sites: sincere sites and spam address collectors. A sincere site is ignored (or exploited) by the spammers, and the second type of site is owned by them. In either case, sending an e-mail only verifies your e-mail address.
?Take meaningful action to stop spammers. You can filter messages, write to government representatives, and even report spam.

How to Report Spam

Forward spam to Spamcop, a free service that works directly with network administrators to help stop spam messages. Pitt's Computing Services and Systems Development Department (CSSD) uses this service. Unwanted messages can be reported directly to Spamcop by following the directions in the box below. Note: spam must be reported within three days of receipt.

Additional sources of information are available on-line at www.emailabuse.org and www.abuse.net. Please contact Computing Services for help filtering and/or reporting spam, or unsubscribing to legitimate electronic mailing lists.

Spamcop Directions

To register with Spamcop:

1. Open the URL, http://spamcop.net in your web browser.
2. Click on the link that says Free Reporting Service.
3. Enter your e-mail address in the appropriate block and click Verify Email Address.
4. An e-mail will be sent to you with an authorization URL—save this URL.

To report individual e-mail messages:

1. Open and copy the message with full headers to your clipboard. The full, unmodified header will need to be sent (click the Blah, blah, blah button in Eudora to expand the full header).
2. Go to the authorization URL and paste the entire message into the box.
3. Click Process SPAM.
4. After a short wait, click Send Spam Report Now.

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