No doubt about it.

"Spam" (unsolicited commercial email) threatens to\rparalyze and ultimately destroy the email system as it\rcurrently exists on the Internet.

Anyone with an email address can attest to the fact that\rthe avalanche of Spam has only increased in the last year\rand shows no sign of stopping.

However, the current system many Internet Service\rProviders (ISP's) use to deal with Spam may just destroy\rthe Internet's email system long before the spammers do.

Now, I won't deny that the weight of the Spam on any\rISP's resources can rate very significant.

It's been estimated that between 30-60% of all email now\rsent is Spam!

This means that 30-60% an ISP's system resources\r(bandwidth, hardware, system maintenance) go towards\rdelivering messages nobody wants to receive.

Out of self-defense, many ISP's turn to third party\rservices like SpamCop, SPEWS (Spam Prevention Early\rWarning System), and SpamHaus to help them identify\rsources of spam and block the messages before their email\rsystems get clogged.

No Trial - No Defense - Guilty!

In theory, it's a great system.

In practice, it creates a situation resembling a witch\rhunt where the accused gets burned at the stake without a\rtrial, let alone the ability to face their accuser.\rHere's how the system works.

Let's say a business habitually sends legitimate email to\rits customers or prospects who asked to receive the\remail.

As long as nobody complains, life proceeds as normal.

But then let's say one of those people forgets they opted\rin to the business's email list and reports an email\rmessage as spam to one of the services I mentioned above.

Result: the business gets blacklisted by one or more of\rthese services and ISP's in turn automatically block\remail (legitimate email) sent by the business to its\rcustomers and opt-in subscribers.

To make matters even worse, nobody at these anti-spam\rservices bothers to let the business know they've been\rblacklisted.

When the business finally discovers their status and\rtries to contact SpamCop, SPEWS or SpamHaus, the real fun\rbegins.

If the business does discover which service(s)\rblacklisted them, they'll find they can't call anyone on\rthe phone to discuss the problem.

They also discover these services are totally unregulated\rand there is no higher court of appeals.

Any email responses from these services often contain a\rsmug attitude of assumed guilt that scoffs at your claims\rof innocence.

Also, don't bother asking for the opportunity to face\ryour accuser in order to prove your innocence because\rthey get to hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

Combining this attitude of assumed guilt with the\rinability to prove your innocence creates a recipe for\rdisaster for every legitimate business.

Oh, by the way, while writing this article, I received 19\rspam email messages through an ISP monitored by all 3\ranti-spam services.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

In the end, the current system only creates opportunity\rfor abuse that targets legitimate businesses while the\rreal spammers just merrily keep sending their flood of\remail.

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved - http://www.thenetreporter.com

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the\rco-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how\rto use free articles to quickly drive thousands of\rtargeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...

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