Lets get one thing clear – SPAM is very bad. Spam is demeaning, intrusive, frustrating, etc. However, the reaction to Spam is defeatist, Luditist, intrusive and reactionary.
Firstly, lets look at the reality of Spam; you download your emails, you delete the Spam.
Come on, are they that hard to identify? Is the email from Aunt Dot injured by the Spam? Do you have to spend hours reading each one to the bitter end to guess it is spam?
Email programmes come with a button called – DELETE; so delete – end of the matter. I hear you whinning: “but they take so long to download”; “they fill my inbox”; “they contain pornography”, etc. One answer: Delete.
Actually, the porn Spam does present a bigger problem- for children of course, and the degree of insult they produce. To be honest, if your email is privacy protected, which it should be, then these problems can be partially avoided as well.
By the way, Spamhaus, a major Spam identifier, notes that 80% of Spam originates with just 20 groups.
So how does everyone suffer from over-reaction when dealing with Spam? How many genuine emails get...