Subject: Re: Please define
Date: Oct 4 00:46:26 1997
From: jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca - jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca


Burke asked -

> As a relative newcomer to chat groups, can somebody please post a clear of
> definition of the term 'SPAM'. Thanks.

Think of the Internet as a vast electronically-fed community. In that community
there are groups of like minded people who get together to discuss mutual
interests. These groups form parts of the Internet called, among others:

- "lists" like Tweeters; the lists have a head honcho who maintains the list
(the list-owner, the illustrious Dan Victor in our case), and the machine and
software that receives and distributes the messages (the list-processor, or
listproc for short); you usually have to subscribe to a list to participate in
the discussions, and unsubscribe when you no longer want to be a part; the
number of lists worldwide are in the thousands and thousands.

- "Usenet newsgroups", basically "user groups" where you can just subscribe and
unsubscribe anytime you like without going through a listprocessor as with
Tweeters; some newsgroups are moderated, i.e., the bulk of the messages are
vetted by a moderator for tone and content before being released on the
internet, while the majority are a free-for-all where you can write anything
your heart desires; last time I checked I think the number of Usenet newsgroups
was about 12,000 and growing steadily.

The etiquette of being a good neighbour when posting to these various internet
discussion groups, appropriately called "netiquette", mandates that:

- you shall keep a civil tone;
- you shall keep replies concise and germane to the point under discussion;
- and you shall keep the discussion within the confines of the newsgroups which
would be interested in such a discussion in the first place.

This last point is where the act of "spamming" comes into play. It is quite
easy with the proper software to willingly send any message to every newsgroup
on the internet if you so desired. This act of wilful malice aforethought is
called SPAMMING. Most spammers have no compunction when it comes time to hit
the post button since they know that they can hide behind faked return IP
addresses, faked login names, etc. Even worse, there are sites out there that
devote themselves to harboring and nurturing this treasonous act of internet
invasion of privacy. They get feeble thrills from making other people's lives
just that little bit more complex. Thus, you get the "Make a million bucks in 2
days!!!!" type of message going to thousands and thousands of people who don't
want to hear about it.

Now one could rightfully say "Big deal! Just hit the delete key!".
Unfortunately, this overlooks two points:

1) It encourages this type of behaviour by benign neglect;
2) The Internet is already becoming saturated due to the increasing volume of
messages. Every unwanted message just adds to the congestion.

So, spam is not just canned meat. It is a current plague on the Internet.

- Jack


Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca