[pmmail-list] Spam -- your definition

[David M. Nelson]

On Thu, 30 May 2002 11:00:24 -0300, PMMail OS/2 Support wrote:

>Some people say that "spam" is (1) unsolicited (2) bulk (3)
>commercial email that is (4) fraudulent and/or (5) does not contain
>any real contact info or method of demanding that the contact stop.
>Personally I like that definition because it gives us a target that
>we can all agree should be prevented.
>
>Which definition do you use?

To mangle an old quote...spam is like pornography--I can't really
define it, but I know it when I see it.

More seriously, items 1-3 above are critical, with 4 being important
but not necessary. Regarding item 5, I wrote my anti-spam filter to
look for "to be removed" and other similar text. It's proven quite
effective, with very few false positives.

Junk snail-mail is often mentioned as justification for spam. The
difference is that the sender bears most of the burden of cost in
traditional mail, which has the side benefit of subsidizing the postal
service. In e-mail, the balance of cost has shifted significantly
towards the recipient, and does nothing to benefit the messaging
infrastructure. Rather, many spammers try to use open mail relays,
which actually harms the infrastructure.

I hold that for all legitimate e-mail, there is always some form of
prior approval, either direct or implied. Friends and business contacts
are given direct approval when I share my address with them. I've given
my direct approval to this list maintainer to send me e-mail posted to
this list. By writing to the list myself, there is an implied consent
to receive direct e-mail related to my postings *and* not more
appropriately posted publicly. On web sites I maintain, visitors are
invited to send "Questions, comments, and suggestions" to my webmaster
address, but such messages should be related to the site. That does not
mean that I want to hear about the latest deals on Rogaine or to
register a "dot worthless" domain name.

Allowing for the inevitable exception, I hold that if I didn't give
prior consent, either direct or implied, it's spam.

David M. Nelson

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