Eliminating incessant waves of spam has become a top legislative priority in many jurisdictions. Because e-mail is a nearly costless medium for senders, spammers have every incentive to send out as many e-mails as possible, even if virtually no recipients want or respond to the promotions, and despite the heavy costs to the internet service providers (ISPs) who have to process these huge quantities of mail.
Imposing civil and criminal penalties on spam will not on its own end the behaviour – the economic rewards for the professional outlaw spammer are too high. However, just as one would never propose legalising burglary because of the availability of home security systems, a strong, integrated scheme of public and private enforcement actions is an absolutely critical complement to technological solutions to the problem.
