Midterm 3: Origin of Spam

As we know (and hate) it today, spam refers to the overabundance of electronic mail messaging, in the form of unsolicited advertisements. But spam doesn’t just come from your email inbox, it has roots in many other forms of media as well. “The word "Spam" as applied to Email means "Unsolicited Bulk Email".Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent.” (http://www.spamhaus.org/definition.html).

In modern terms, the name of spam came into use with the earliest iterations of the internet, although the case could be made for the earlier iterations of unwanted chain letters and the like. The origins of this come from a bug in the original USENET software which was intended to delete unwanted messages, and which mistakenly ended up sending over 200 unintended messages to existing USENET users. “It was these recipients that were first to use the term spam, which at the time simply meant abuse of USENET.” (Spam Laws).

Prior to the internet, the spam was first utilized by virtue of the telegraph where the first recorded spam message was sent simultaneously to several destinations. “The first unsolicited messages came over the wires as early as 1864, when telegraph lines were used to send dubious investment offers to wealthy Americans.” (Time Magazine). Appropriately, the definition refers to Network abuse of nearly any kind. Of course we are all familiar with the modern terms of either the processed meat product, or the gross overabundance of unwanted email.
Spam today has become a whole new monster. It has taken root in a variety of different media, smart spammers utilizing the many varied forms that the technological world gets its information. Emails, text messages, faxes, internet ads, and so on have become the new media by which spam has taken root in all our lives…and almost none of it is welcome. ”Spammers have always shown their liking for big names and brands. And very often these brands are abused to spread malware or gain access to users’ accounts.” (Symantec). Not only has spam become incredibly annoying, but it is now becoming dangerous to our personal identities and property. Obviously common decency will not stop spammers. But the line needs to be drawn somewhere.