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A united front in the war on spam
Post a “No Solicitors” sign on your home and door-to-door salespeople shouldn't dare to knock or ring. It's illegal to send
unsolicited ads to your fax machine. And thanks to the National Do Not Call Registry, many unwanted telephone sales calls
are verboten. So how is it that spammers get to fill your e-mail In box with junk, though you never asked for it and don't
want it?
Our September 2004 report Protect yourself online alerts you to this and other ways in which you're under electronic attack.
Equally important, we tested protective software and explain what else you can do about spam, viruses, spyware, hackers, and
identity thieves.
In our survey of more than 2,000 Internet users, for example, 65 percent said that at least half their e-mail is spam. Spam-blocking
software remains the most common defense, but it has drawbacks: A big one--it doesn't block a lot of spam; and it can mistakenly
block e-mail you actually want to receive. In Protect yourself online, we rate your software options and note those best at
not trashing legitimate communications.
Consumers are trying to be vigilant in fighting spam. In our survey, most people said they rarely or never open spam; they
use spam filters; and they often try to get off mailing lists by clicking on a link or replying with an e-mail “opt out” message
(which we don't recommend, since in most cases you'll either hit a phony dead link or confirm to the spammer that your address
is a live target for more spam).
Where does this get consumers? Not far. Most of those surveyed found these strategies only somewhat effective in cutting their
list of junk e-mail.
What about the federal Can-Spam Act, which went into effect in January 2004? While it filled a void in states where there
wasn't enough oversight, the act itself is flawed. It puts the burden on you, the consumer, to “opt out” when you get unsolicited
e-mail, rather than on spammers to get your permission in advance through an “opt in.” And though it gives federal and state
officials, along with Internet service providers, the right to sue spammers, it doesn't give you, the consumer, that same
right when you've been spammed.
For now, keeping spam out of your life requires setting up a fortress around your computer with help from your Internet service
provider and spam-blocking software. It requires not opening or replying to spam in any way. Above all, don't buy whatever
it is that the spammers are trying to sell, because as long as they make money, they'll keep spamming.
While you're busy protecting yourself, service providers and the software industry have work to do. They should develop the
strongest possible spam blockades. And law enforcement must come down hard and fast on spammers. We should all have the right
to hang a big fat “Do Not Spam” sign on our computers and have it mean something.
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Jim Guest
President
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