Spam Frequently Asked Questions
This page provides answers to spam related frequently asked questions (FAQs).
- What's this site all about?
- What is spam?
- How do I deal with spam?
- Why is spam bad?
- What about free speech?
- Spam Jargon
What's this site all about?
This site is about stopping spam. See About Spam Links.
What is spam?
Spam is Unsolicited Bulk Email.
- Spam Defined
- Spam FAQs
- Spam Overviews and Analysis
- Spam Whitepaper Collections
- Spam Surveys
- Spam History
- Non-English Spam FAQs
Spam Defined
Internet spam is one or more unsolicited messages,
sent or posted as part of a larger collection of messages,
all having substantially identical content
Spam Defined - www.monkeys.com/spam-defined/
MAPS Definition of “spam” - www.mail-abuse.com/spam_def.html
The Definition of Spam - www.spamhaus.org/definition.html
“Bulk Mail from a Stranger” is the best definition for spam - www.templetons.com/brad/spam/define.html
What is spam? - www.caube.org.au/whatis.htm
Fortinet definition of spam - www.fortiguardcenter.com/antispam/antispam_info.html#spamdef
Google's define spam search - www.google.com/search?q=define%3Aspam
Spam FAQs
Spam-L FAQ - www.claws-and-paws.com/spam-l
nanae FAQ - samspade.org/d/nanaefaq.html
alt.spam FAQ - digital.net/~gandalf/spamfaq.html - mirrors: 1
Handling Spam - www.graphic-design.com/DTG/spam.html
RIPE Unsolicited Bulk E-mail FAQ - www.ripe.net/info/faq/abuse/stop_spam.html
APNIC Network abuse FAQ series: Spammers - www.apnic.net/apnic-info/whois_search2/abuse-and-spamming
Death to Spam - www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/nospam.html
Stopping e-mail abuse - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-spam_techniques_(e-mail)
Spam Overviews and Analysis
These overviews, reports and whitepapers are by non-profits, governments and anti-spam and security companies.
Fight Spam on the Internet! - spam.abuse.net/overview/
Spamming, from Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(electronic)
Spam Email, from Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spam
EPIC on Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail - epic.org/privacy/junk_mail/spam/
Spam: History, Perceptions, Solutions - www.option-consommateurs.org/dc_pdf/pdf/oc_pourriels04en.pdf
Essays on Junk E-mail - www.templetons.com/brad/spam/
The Spam Battle 2002: A Tactical Update - www.sans.org/rr/whitepapers/email/589.php
Towards Usable E-Mail - www.davros.org/legal/dmaspam.html
Spam! Communications of the ACM - lorrie.cranor.org/pubs/spam/ - mirrors: 1
Roger Clarke's Spam Page - www.rogerclarke.com/II/Spam.html
LSoft About Spam - www.lsoft.com/resources/spamorama.asp
You Needn't Eat Spam - www.camblab.com/nugget/spam_03.pdf
Thank the Spammers - www.linxnet.com/misc/spam/thank_spammers.html
Unterdrückung von Spam E-Mails - www.fehcom.de/qmail/docu/07_02.pdf - German
On the Spam Epidemic - www.pmail.com/spamwp.htm
Unsolicited Bulk Email – The problem and some hope - www.giac.org/certified_professionals/practicals/gsec/0394.php
Brazillian CERT, Workshop de Tratamento de Incidentes de Segurança - www.cert.br/docs/ssi2003/
Those Bulk Email Blues - www.imc.org/bulk-email.html
EU Commission study: “Junk” e-mail - ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/studies/spam_en.htm
EFF Archive on Spam - www.eff.org/spam/
State of Texas: Addressing the Problems of Unsolicited Bulk E-Mail - www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/srrpub14.htm
Swiss Internet User Group Positionspapier zum Thema Spam - www.siug.ch/positionen/SIUG-Spam.shtml
Ad-Hoc Working Group on Unsolicited Commercial Email - www.cdt.org/spam/
Analysis of Spam - https://www.cs.tcd.ie/publications/tech-reports/reports.03/TCD-CS-2003-50.pdf
Abuse of Internet e-mail - cr.yp.to/docs/mailabuse.html
My Life with Spam - perl.plover.com/lp/Spam.html
The Manager's Guide to Coping with Spam - archive.opengroup.org/messaging/spam/July_2003/Coping_with_Spam.pdf
Spam Mitigation Techniques - www.cpni.gov.uk/Products/technicalnotes/default.aspx?id=tn-20040227-00102.xml
A Systems Analysis of the Spam Problem - dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/1721.1/32286/1/61325990.pdf
Spam Issues in Developing Countries - www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/47/34935342.pdf
A Game Theoretic Model of Spam E-Mailing - www.ceas.cc/papers-2005/113.pdf
Building Consumer Trust — Unsolicited Electronic Communications (Spam) — A Multilateral Framework - www.gbd-e.org/ig/spam/Unsolicited_Electronic_Communication_SPAM_Nov03.pdf
The Economy of Spam - spam.ani.univie.ac.at/files/FA384018-6.pdf
Wars Within - www.uninformed.org/?v=5&a=4
Communication on Fighting spam, spyware and malicious software - www.purity.net/service/
There Is No “Spam Problem” - www.circleid.com/posts/there_is_no_spam_problem/
Spammer issues - www.spamtrackers.eu/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Spammer_issues
Damn Spam: The losing war on junk e-mail - www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/06/070806fa_fact_specter
Why I Hate Spam - www.microsoft.com/presspass/ofnote/06-23wsjspam.mspx
WGIG Issues Paper on Spam - www.wgig.org/docs/WP-Spam.pdf
Spam: The Documentary (2006) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0936499/
Symantec State of Spam Report - go.symantec.com/spam_report/
The Register Whitepapers on spam - whitepapers.theregister.co.uk/search/?q=spam
- Spammer Techniques
- Spam Law Articles
- Spam Prevention for Users
- Spam Prevention for ISPs
- Spam Prevention for Marketers
Spam Whitepaper Collections
SC Magazine anti spam whitepapers - whitepapers.scmagazine.com/security/anti-spam/
Ferris Whitepapers - www.ferris.com/index.php?s=spam
Spam & E-mail Marketing Whitepapers - whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/search.aspx?scid=1100
Spam Surveys
Spam History
Keith Lynch's timeline of spam related terms and concepts - keithlynch.net/spamline.html
The reaction to the first spam - www.templetons.com/brad/spamreact.html
Timeline of spam - www.thocp.net/reference/internet/spam.htm
The History of Electronic Mail - www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html
Non-English Spam Overviews
Guides in a few other languages.
How do I deal with spam?
Read these broad guides on net-abuse and spam.
- How do I stop getting spam?
- How do I stop my users from sending spam?
- How do I avoid sending spam?
- General Internet Use
How do I stop getting spam?
How do I stop my users from sending spam?
How do I avoid sending spam?
General Internet Use
Guides to generally acceptable behaviour on the Internet.
Netiquette Home Page - www.albion.com/netiquette/
Netiquette Guidelines - www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html
Email etiquette and related gripes - unquietmind.com/email.html
Email etiquette and related gripes (German version) - www.dominik-boecker.de/email/
Why Is Spam Bad?
That the recipient carries the cost of sending spam is just one reason that spam is bad. Read these articles to learn more.
Why Spam is Bad
Spam Costs Everybody: Don't send e-mail that's "Postage Due" - www.efuse.com/Grow/postage_due.html
My server resources do not exist for your convenience - www.panix.com/~moz/russ.txt
The Insidious Evil of Spam - www.templetons.com/brad/spam/evil.html
The Negative Impacts of Spam - homepage.mac.com/redbird/doc/neg_impacts_spam.html
Why is spam bad? - spam.abuse.net/overview/spambad.shtml
Unsolicited Bulk Email: Definitions and Problems - www.imc.org/ube-def.html
Spam is Different - www.paulgraham.com/spamdiff.html
The Direct Marketing Association - www.aboutspam.com/thedma.php
The parable of the broken window - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window
The Carbon Footprint of Email Spam - resources.mcafee.com/content/NACarbonFootprintSpam
The Cost of Spam
Cost of Spam Discussions
Generally “back of the envelope” estimates of the financial cost of spam, in varying contexts.
The True Cost of Spam - www.ecofuture.org/jm/spam_cost.html
Network Cost of Spam - www.comdomsoft.com/en/antispam/white-papers/network-cost-of-spam.html
Return on Investment (ROI) Calculators
The Cost of spam - www.cmsconnect.com/marketing/spamcalc.htm
Cost of Spam - marvin.sihope.com/cgi-bin/costofspam.cgi
The Cost of Spam - www.mxlogic.com/resources/spam_calculator/
Calculate the Cost of Spam - www.cleanmessage.com/roi/cost_analysis_spam.asp
How much does spam cost your enterprise? - www.commtouch.com/Site/Resources/Calculator.asp
SCORA Return on Investment Estimator - www.tikitechnologies.com/roi.html
TrustedSource ROI Calculator - www.trustedsource.org/TS?do=tools&subdo=roi
Return on Investment Calculator - www.google.com/messagesecurity/roi_calculator.html
Spam Incidents
Tales of the adverse human impact of spam.
The Bulk Email Blues - www.1099.com/c/co/gw/lf/linda003.html
Bulk Email Horror Story - www.net-market.com/horror.htm
A Tale of Mailing Lists - www.honet.com/Nadine/
Cyberstalked - www.jahitchcock.com/cyberstalked/
When Will They Ever Learn? - www.targeting.com/whenwill.html
Cautionary Tale about the Sending of Spam - www.zyra.net/spam4.htm
Joe Jobs
A “joe job” is a spam run forged to appear to come from another innocent party.
What about free speech?
UCE and Freedom of Expression - www.euro.cauce.org/en/freespeech.html
The First Amendment, Junk Faxes and Spam - www.wiredsafety.org/law/spam/ramasastry_2002_05.html
Whether 'Anti-Spam' Laws Violate The First Amendment - web.wm.edu/law/publications/jol/articles/geissler.shtml?svr=law
Spam Jargon
Guides to the esoteric vocabulary used when discussing spam.
Internet and Spam Jargon
The Internet side of the jargon.
Spam-L Glossary - www.claws-and-paws.com/spam-l/resources.html#glossary
Spam glossary - www.sophos.com/security/spam-glossary.html
A glossary of spam terminology - www.rickconner.net/spamweb/glossary.html
Spamdemic Glossary - www.cluelessmailers.org/glossary.html
Spam glossary - www.rahul.net/falk/glossary.html
Some of my geek speak - home.comcast.net/~spammeister/glossary.html
The Net Abuse Jargon File - www.ncf.ca/ip/freenet/subs/complaints/spam/jargon.txt
The Jargon File - www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/
Le Jargon Français - www.linux-france.org/prj/jargonf/
Terimler Sözlüğü - www.belgeler.org/howto/spam-filtering-glossary.html
What is... - www.knujon.com/whatis.html
Spam Tracker's Glossary - www.spamtrackers.eu/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Glossary
Email Marketing Jargon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. SPAM is a trademark of Hormel Foods.
Page last updated: 02-Jan-2010