“WE Can Stop the Spam!”

1. “WE Can Stop the Spam!” By: Jack McHugh

2. Proposals to identify spam • Michigan- require commercial e-mailers to insert “ADV” as the first three characters in the subject line of an unsolicited e-mail • Federal Trade Commission- Do not spam list

3. Positive and Negatives of Spam lists • Citizens can register to not receive spam • Penalize spammers who email those on the list • Spammers will find a way to avoid • 37 states have passed such laws yet few were successful • Avoid by using oversees e-mail address

4. Positive and Negative • Spam list expensive • Government has bad track record with purchasing or operating complex software • Individuals and businesses have to pay to be on the list • extra costs would imposed on marketers that comply with consumer wishes • concerns that the “do not spam” lists can be used by spammers to mine for e-mail addresses • Do not want to stunt growth of internet with government interference

5. How much does spam really effect society? • volume of unsolicited e-mails is growing by 50 percent per month • Filtering programs- expensive ,not totally effective • $10 billion a year in lost productivity • Michigan Manufacturers Association -estimates that each spam message a worker has to delete costs his or her company between 70 cents and one dollar in lost productivity

6. What is the solution? • Michigan proposal states three letters be used in subject headings “ADV” • Makes it easy to filter the e-mails, organize into delete-able clusters • Businesses and internet service provider can create delete-able clusters

7. What is the solution? • Do not want government interference • “do it ourselves”” • Simple: If millions of spam recipients refuse to patronize an e-marketer’s product or service unless his communication contains “ADV” in the subject line, spammers would get the message • News travels fast on the internet

8. Letter • Can write letter to urge friends and colleagues to demand spammers honor the ADV • could snowball into thousands and then millions • Impossible for any product or service to be e-marketed without the “ADV”

9. Subject: Join the anti-spam boycott! Message:Effective immediately, I refuse to purchase any product or service marketed through spam unless the first three characters of the message subject line are “ADV.” The “ADV” alerts me that this is spam. It makes it easy for me to delete these messages if I choose, or for my ISP to delete them if I so request. This does not apply to vendors with whom I have a pre-existing relationship. Spammers who include the ADV will get my consideration if they are selling something I want. Please join the boycott, and pass this message to your friends, urging them to really do it! WE can stop the spam, by taking the profits from disrespectful spammers.

10. Everybody Join In!!! • “Who knows – maybe this article will start the ball rolling. Anyone reading this has my permission to borrow the text above. There is nothing to stop us from pasting this into an e-mail and sending it to everyone they know. We can stop the spam!”