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Ending Spam

f you’re looking for a primer on how the anti-spam battle is fought, you can’t

do much better.

Spam blocking is essential in order for email to remain a viable form of

communication. Getting 100% spam-blocking is virtually impossible as one

person's spam is another's legitimate email, but reading Zdziarski's book wil

definitely put you on the right track.

I receive between 500 and 600 spams per day. So does anyone who’s had an email

account for a while. Like other victims, I take particular interest in the

history surrounding the violation of my mailbox. The spam isn’t even that

useful—I’m trapped in a world of Viagra ads and Nigerian diplomats. I don’t need

any Viagra (yet), and I’ve never been to Nigeria. If you’re going to send me

something, at least send me something I can use. Getting spam is like watching a

bad television commercial. I’m quite certain the first marketing advertisement

for the wheel was far more interesting than some of the spam I receive today. So

what’s the history behind this nuisance? Did spam just “appear” one day in mass

quantities?

While the bulk of this book deals specifically with fighting spam from the low-

level inner workings of spam filters, this chapter takes a look at the evolution

of spam. It’s fascinating but mildly depressing to look at how spam has

developed and where all of this garbage came from.

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