Should Spam be illegal?

[Ian]

Anti-Spam laws are currently being considered around the globe as it is becoming a large problem. Would you agree if this was introduced?

I would like to see spam become illegal, as it wastes so much time filtering my emails, I probably delete some real e-mails occasionally, and some of the spam e-mails are far too inappropriate for me to check my e-mail in university!

There has been talk about e-mail tax / charges, which I would not like to see - although I can see why this has been talked about. Sending 10,000,000 e-mails at £0.01 each would be very costly for a spammer but a minor charge for personal use. The PC Review thread subscription poster probably sends around 500/day though, so I wouldn't like to see charges introduced (who would the money go to anyway?).

 

[ff8demon]

I would like to see spam become illegal, as it wastes so much time filtering my emails

so something should be illegal because it wastes your time?

I would say that anyone has the right to advertise their product. If your contact information becomes public knowledge somehow, then I don't think you can fault them for using it. I think you can conceivably make illegal a lot of the ways in which they obtain contact info, because a lot of these methods are a violation of privacy rights. But I don't think spam itself can be called illegal. just annoying.

 

[Ian]

I agree that there are lots of other implications making it illegal for that fact, but I can't unsubscribe from these e-mails. I do think that harvesting the information and abusing it to send people 100's of spam e-mails a day should be illegal, to the same extent that sending postal junk mail is.

There will be many knock on effects if it was made illegal, such as the reminders from forums (which are send by options selected on signup) - as some people see these as spam and get quite annoyed over it (even though a box had to be ticked to receive them, and is easily unsubscribable).

I must get about 300 spam e-mails a day, all for Viagra, porn websites, loans, "soft tabs"? and other things - none of them have been a service, but a poorly written e-mail to evade a spam checker.

 

[Matt Jason H]

I hate spam, but I'm voting no because I'm against internet regulation of any kind.

 

[ff8demon]

in addition, a lot of times the "unsubscribe" link in a spam email is not an unsubscribe link at all, but the exact opposite. If you click it, then the spam sender knows that he has hit an actively checked email and your spam problems will multiply.

These types of deception should certainly be made illegal. but spam itself? I don't think it is a bad thing by itself, even if it is annoying. Many spammers simply go about it in an obviously fraudulent way.

 

[floppybootstomp]

All senders of spam should be lined up against a wall and shot.

Twice.

I think that makes my feelings clear on the matter

 

[Becky]

I'd have to say Yes to the poll, because I hate spam. If spam emails were phonecalls, the general public wouldn't stand for it, and I don't see much difference in essence.

 

[Quadophile]

I get about 200 emails a day and about 170 -180 is what you call "spam", the reason it should be illegal is that the spammer is using the bandwidth and not the person who receives it. Those on dial-up accounts spending by the hour spend more than half their time deleting mail for which they are paying. Does that not justify it being labled as illegal. Besides, who is the party getting it not all adults are they, 8 year old also get spam and at time with explicit photographs, is that not wrong.

ff8demon: I am sorry but I do not agree with you on this. I have explained the reasons why. I am with all the others who posted on this thread/issue

 

[floppybootstomp]

I get about 200 emails a day and about 170 -180 is what you call "spam", the reason it should be illegal is that the spammer is using the bandwidth and not the person who receives it. Those on dial-up accounts spending by the hour spend more than half their time deleting mail for which they are paying. Does that not justify it being labled as illegal. Besides, who is the party getting it not all adults are they, 8 year old also get spam and at time with explicit photographs, is that not wrong.

ff8demon: I am sorry but I do not agree with you on this. I have explained the reasons why. I am with all the others who posted on this thread/issue

I do believe the expression I'm looking for is 'Right On'

 

[ChristopherP]

Spam sucks... Unsolicited and quite often rude, VERY rarely i do get something interesting... Once every 6 months or so... Should be illegal.

Whats bad is when company's sell your email address to third partys who spam you...

 

[Me__2001]

All senders of spam should be lined up against a wall and shot.

i'll second that flopps

spammers are the most annoying interenet users, if there going to abuse the service the ISP's should refuse to connect them to the net.

junk email is the one of the most annoying things

1) there's never just one or two, the email filters remove most but theres always 25+ that manage to get through and its getting more and more

2) they are impossible to stop

3) most contain viruses, trojans etc which makes things even worse as some can be a real pain in the butt to get rid of

 

[floppybootstomp]

Just out of interest, I get very little spam, one to six a day, I suppose. The only e-mail address I make public is my BBF one (BBF is another Forum I take part in) and I use the free edition of Mailwasher to filter that account.

Just recently I had a spate of people trying to sell me imitation Rolex watches and jewellery - boy, were they barking up the wrong tree

Also, about 40% of the spam I receive is a virus.

And then there's the usual suspects - viagra; certain body part enlargement (no thank you, I is quite happy with what I was blessed with, er, shoe size 8 ) and, as Quad pointed out, pornography.

I have given out my gmail email address and my ISP address to quite a few of you peeps on this and other Forums and am happy to say I have very very little spam to those accounts.

 

[ChrisIMRIE]

I keep getting bulk lots of email from companies trying to sell me hosting, tis rediculous.

Apart from that, my Gmail gets the daily dumping of what flopps gets, the people who create them must be bored to death to bulk email thousands of people.

Chris,

 

[muckshifter]

Sorry, shooting is too good for them. They should be Hung, Drawn and Quartered.

Funny though, I only have one email account being Spammed, getting around 80/100 spams a day, and I have not bothered using it for anything in a long time. ISP will not allow it to be deleted?

None of my other accounts, and I have a few including Gmail, receive anything other than genuine emails.

 

[Alf]

I never really had a problem with Spam to tell yall the truth. I guess AOL works after all.

 

[ChristopherP]

Sorry, shooting is too good for them. They should be Hung, Drawn and Quartered.

After an anashtheticaless castration

 

[muckshifter]

As an AOL user, you are probably dialling into a modem that is owned or leased by AOL. Your connection is then carried to AOL, where you can access all their internal content (email, chat areas, etc) If you access external internet sites, this is also done via AOL's Network and Internet Gateways.

A few details about connecting via AOL:

1. Your connection to AOL uses an AOL-proprietary protocol, which may not support all types of Internet applications, such as Internet Telephony. You can only use software and features supported by AOL. Of course when AOL does decide to add a new feature/capability, it is usually nicely and fully integrated into their AOL client.
2. Historically there have been "performance issues" with parts of AOL's Infrastructure. This was caused by "too many" users trying to share "not enough" AOL network and server resources. State lawsuits led AOL to pledge that they will stay ahead of their user growth-curve.
3. Your monthly fee of £/$??.?? per month includes the cost of using AOL infrastructure to reach AOL.

There are thousands of Internet providers who offer a "true" Internet connection. A "true" Internet connection means that your computer is using the TCP-IP Protocol to communicate to the Internet.

A few details about connecting via an ISP:

1. TCP-IP is the standard communications protocol used by virtually all forms of Internet applications (web browser, internet telephony, telnet, FTP, email, etc)
2. You are free to use any kind of Internet software you want such as Netscape, Microsoft Explorer and many other applications
3. When accessing Internet sites, they may download faster via an ISP (versus AOL)

 

[ff8demon]

sorry guys, you've all made very good cases why it's annoying and obnoxious, but not illegal.

sending viruses and explicit images to minors is already illegal. The issue on topic here is spam in general, and I can't see how one can define it as illegal. There are lots of things that take time on the internet that are unsolicited, like popups and flashy ads that take a while to load. The fact is, the only thing you can say is illegal is when the advertiser acts deceptively, usually in the way your contact info is obtained and spread.

I hate spam as much as the next guy, but it is far from illegal. There are illegal spammers, of course, as are highlighted in many of your responses, but spam itself should not be illegal.

 

[floppybootstomp]

sorry guys, you've all made very good cases why it's annoying and obnoxious, but not illegal.

You have a point. It's easy to get emotional about spam and vent one's spleen, but the question here is the legality, not the nuisance factor, as you point out.

sending viruses and explicit images to minors is already illegal.

Illegal it may be, but in most cases the law is unenforcable as most of the filth originates in some far flung corner of the planet and comes from an untraceable address. And different laws apply internationally.

I think spam should be illegal unless it's invited. Many sites give you the option to sign up for their newsletters and offers, I even subscribe to a few. If you want to receive spam it should only be with your consent.

But most of all I think it should be illegal for the reason Quad pointed out, those on dial-up are actually paying, via bandwidth, for stuff they don't want.

And secondly for the annoyance factor, pure and simple. We're a democracy, if enough people want a law put in place, it should be made law. A referendum would be a landslide vote to make spam illegal, in my opinion.

And unlike telephone sales canvassers, I don't actually have the pleasure of telling spammers to **** ***

 

[muckshifter]

With a stunning figure of 40% of global e-mail traffic, Spam is without doubt the #1 thing we have come to hate about the internet.



According to this BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3005757.stm) article, new rules would take place for unsolicited e-mail starting from this October, making spam illegal across member states.



Under the directive unsolicited e-mails may only be sent to individuals for direct marketing purposes and "with their prior consent" or where there is an existing customer relationship.



The article mentions that the biggest problem directives may face would be combating the flood of spam which comes from outside the European Union, either way it's good to hear legal measures are being considered already.