‘Spam’, the luncheon meat eulogised by Monty Python, has now come to be associated with the rising tide of illegal and unwanted e-mail that overwhelms in-boxes, clogs networks and costs businesses billions of dollars each year.
Often consisting of advertisements for commercial or pornographic materials, spam provides an unwanted distraction from legitimate e-mails and relevant commercial messages. Brightmail, a leading anti-spam software company, has projected that before the summer is over, 50% of all e-mail traffic will be categorised as spam and that that figure will continue to rocket. Legislators and industry are finally fighting back with a multi-pronged attack consisting of self-regulation, legislation and a wave of lawsuits against the most prolific ‘spam lords’. Speaking at the UK Spam Summit organised by the All Party Internet Group (APIG) on 1 July, Enrique Salem, chief executive of Brightmail, warned: “We are dealing with an arms race.”
