The long arm of the law just isn't strong enough to stop spam

We've said it before (and we'll say it again). Legislation isn't going to stop spam. Not that I would ever be confused with an NRA zealot, but their logic against gun regulation that runs something like, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns," is being proven out in this arena. This article, entitled Junk E-Mail Is Unabated Despite Law, Survey Says, in the NYTimes, notes:

THREE months after Congress approved legislation intended to curb spam, unsolicited e-mail is a persistent, if not worsening, problem, according to a survey released yesterday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Roughly 75 percent of the Internet users surveyed reported no change or an increase in the amount of junk e-mail they receive, and nearly one-third of them said they were using e-mail less because of it.
"Things aren't getting better," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet project. "And for many Internet users, they're getting worse."

Download the Pew survey.

The legislation seems to be having an impact on porn spam. But, the survey is taken in early days -- before work-arounds have been figured out. Rainie, from Pew, continues with a theme we've taken up before: "The technology community has its job to do, the legal and legislative communities have their jobs to do, and people have their own jobs to do," he said. "It would help if some people were smarter about what they open, or don't open, in their in-boxes."

Amen.

Posted by Grayson at March 19, 2004 10:57 AM