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What Is Spam?
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By Lewis Leake
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If you've been around the interenet any length of time then youprobably know what spam is. However, if you're new to theinternet you might be asking yourself the question "What isSpam?"
The best place to begin would be to explain to you exactly whatspam mail is. Spam is basically just unsolicited commercialemails that companies send to your inbox.
There are a lot of ways these companies get your email address.You may have signed up for a newsletter or promotions with oneof them, or you may have ordered a product or service thatrequires registration from a website first.
It is common for companies to share their mailing lists withtheir affiliate companies. It¡¯s one of the benefits to havingaffiliations. The only problem is that most companies hide thisknowledge in their ¡°terms and agreements¡± of their websites.They count on the fact that most people do not read all the waythrough them. Of course since it is mentioned somewhere in theirwebsite, it is perfectly legal.
The average person can expect to receive anywhere from ten totwenty spam¡¯s a day in their inbox; depending on how many promosand registrations they fill out. Once a person accepts or opensan unsolicited email, they become plagued by receiving six morein its place. It is a vicious cycle.
As the internet has reached its peak popularity during the pastcouple of years, so have companies followed suit and expandedtheir abilities to advertise. The biggest problem is that theydon¡¯t know when to stop advertising.
The best place to begin with this manual is to give you a listof some of the things that you may do that will leave your inboxvulnerable to receiving spam.
? Filling out a registration for an online newsletter is acommon way for companies to use your inbox to advertise.
? Registering your inbox for promos and contests.
? When installing new software it is common to register youremail address for updates, but it is also leaving yourself opento spam.
? Signing yourself up for just about anything online is leavingyourself open to receiving spam.
? Reviewing books online generally requires that you provideyour email address.
One Common factor in all of these things listed is that you haveto volunteer your email address to a company before it can beused. Of course, there are ways for a company to get your emailaddress without you having to give it to them directly.
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