digital media strategy blog

The demand for information explodes every month as the Internet revolution continues. It is mind-boggling to consider how much information is now at our fingertips in more forms than is humanly possible to peruse. Conservative estimates suggest that Google’s Web search database comprises approximately 1,000,000,000,000 Web pages and that the collection expands amounting to a thousand million documents daily. Although a lot of content is destroyed when big hosting companies close (such as Yahoo!’s closing of GeoCities), the flood of electronic data available to us continues without any sign of slowing down.

It isn’t possible to be capable or inclined to look at all of it. And what is really overwhelming is that this data just apply to the content called the indexable Web. Search engineers feel there are hundreds of billions more archives trapped in restricted sites named the Hidden Web or the Deep Web. The hidden document collections rely upon custom search tools and frequently require access through expensive pricing models, or they may be published in proprietary formats. The deep Web needs custom search interfaces that make it possible to delve into the remote content found in the uncrawlable Web.

Bridging the gap between these Web universes, co-existing on the Internet, is the crossroads of public archives. Usually referred to as “public records”, these public data warehouses offer simple to complex search capability yet nonetheless have been opened up by fee-based people search programs. Per the Background Records blog publishing on www.recordsbackground.com, companies offer dozens or hundreds of Internet archives of public records.

These public records may be part of government services or one may find them in for-profit archives, for example telephone directories and business guides, class or school reunion sites, and others. Even a typical archive for resumes exemplifies some kind of public data publication. Nonetheless, many of us identify public records with data from governments.

For those who need to scour public records for more information about someone you may do business with, sometimes to do a detailed background check, you won’t have the time or perhaps you don’t have the ability to use all those sources. This is why the public information search industry takes its place in high demand business. A few observers count background records sales in the multiple billion dollar range. Searching hundreds of millions of public records procurable just on US citizens alone lies completely beyond the resources of the average person. Every major search engine barely scratches the surface of the mountains of data. Various educational resources address the need for and condition of background checks.

Information archives such as RecordsBackground.com assist people in seeing the environment surrounding public records and understand it better.

Vacations
Vacations would be the only strategy to use while you are wanting to save funds on your own vacations. Vacations can cover anything from airfare to resort as well as a car leasing. You’ll be able to visit a voyage agent so that you can find your holiday package, but you’ll likely need to invest more than you ought to with the agent’s cost. However, you can utilize the website Travelocity and not have to give back all of your financial savings in the shape of an agent charge. Simple and gratis to utilize, they allow you to get a wonderful holiday package and put away the maximum sum of money possible. That’s certain to help make your trip very satisfying. For a lot more information and facts regarding vacations, visit www.travelocity.com/Vacations. Copyright 2011.

Doctor of Physical Therapy Programs
Soon after suffering a traumatic trauma or undergoing an intensive operation, lots of people need the services of a physical therapist to assist them to regain the skillsthey had before. Physical therapy is an extremely worthwhile area in which you are able to assist people take their life back again. Many of the primary accredited physical therapy degree programs provide doctor of physical therapy programs, which can be completed following an entry-level program. It will help you become a top-notch physical therapist effective at improving the patients seeking the best care. If you love aiding other people, physical therapy may be a career where you can truly succeed.

Hypnosis Dallas
It typically is absolutely not uncommon for a Hypnosis Dallas client to remark how they have realized more solid positive effects from Hypnosis in Dallas in comparison to the results they received following a number of of other forms of therapy. In my own Good Vibes Hypnosis Dallas office, repeatedly, Hypnosis continues to be known to be fantastic with regard to stopping smoking, permanent weightloss, releasing stress and anxiety and getting rid of trouble sleeping. Hypnotherapy has long been found to be especially significant in terms of helping in the recovery from health problems and in many cases resolving the underlying contributors of fears, phobias, and depression. At my practice in Dallas, Hypnotherapy has been discovered to be less risky and much faster mainly because it addresses the root causes associated with our own behavioral and physical conditions in the subconscious mind, instead of making an attempt to conceal all the symptoms.

Entertainment was once all about television sets, radios and video game consoles. However, the Internet changed all that. Washington’s ISP WildBlue fetches fresh media directly to you at superfast file transfer speeds up to 30 times quicker than dial-up. Live speeds may vary.

Nobody wants to be kept from their favorite pages, with WildBlue you’ll can browse as often as you like. Catch up with current news stories on pages like CNN.com, check out your buddies on Myspace or Facebook, listen to music, play games and do whatever else you’d like to do. It’s incredible how much is available on the Internet. There are millions of assorted programs to pick from like costless text editors, conversion calculators, thesauri, and loads more.

Want to find more friends? WildBlue internet makes socializing a dream. Networking pages like Facebook or Twitter and pages such as YouTube that let you share videos are incredibly popular right now. You should join in. Social bookmarking pages let you rate and mark varied pages while sharing their contents with others. Is keeping a web-based diary a priority for you? There are loads of pages you can use. If you want a meaty public debate then sign up to some web forums. Have you got an MP3 player? Try a web-based music platform like iTunes with your WildBlue service so you can savor those songs dearest to you. You’ve got to see the benefit of a system which lets you pick which tunes to buy from an album. Using direct tv satellite ISP can open up an exciting domain of digital entertainment. Access podcasts, movies, audiobooks and many other electronic wares at a click of your mouse.

WildBlue gives you the liberty to view the movies and tv programs you desire, whenever you want and wherever you want. Streaming movies and tv programs is easy. Just tap in what you’re searching for on a free or paid media website.

Who doesn’t want to join their buddies in an MMORPG? Would you rather try a more casual gaming website that provides a large selection of card, quiz and platform games? Whatever you choose, the internet makes it happen. There’s a staggering choice, so isn’t it about time you joined a premium direct tv wireless ISP? If you’ve got a clear view of the southern sky then WildBlue in Washington can provide you with an inexpensive and highly dependable service.

It was once the case that televisions, radio sets, and game consoles were thought of as good home entertainment. That was all altered with the introduction of the Internet. Oregon’s service provider WildBlue brings fresh entertainment directly to you at super-fast file transfer speeds up to 30 times quicker than dialup. Live rates may vary. WildBlue makes it viable for you to browse the Internet and visit your favorite web pages. Keep track of up-to-date news reports on web pages such as CNN.com, check out your buddies on MySpace or Facebook, listen to tracks, play games and do whatever else you’d like to do. Need applications? The Internet is the ideal place to find them. You can pick from lots of distinct programs; they include free text editors, money or language converters and thesauruses. Feel like making more acquaintances? With WildBlue internet, socializing becomes a pleasure. Social networking web pages such as Twitter or Facebook and web pages like YouTube where you can upload and share videos are all the rage at the moment. Miss out at your peril. Social bookmarking web pages allow you to check and rank individual web pages and share them with other users. Web forums are great for people who want to have their say while blogs are excellent if you’d like to read someone else’s thoughts. Do you consider your MP3 player as your pride and joy? Try an online music platform such as iTunes with WildBlue, and you’ll soon be relishing those tunes dearest to you. Download the newest songs while avoiding fillers. As well as music, these types of web pages often tender films, podcasts, audio books and many other electronic wares you can relish practically anywhere with direct tv Satellite Internet. WildBlue gives you the liberty to watch the films and tv programs you like, whenever you want and wherever you want. Streaming films and shows is easy. You choose from free and paid web pages. It’s true that web based games are the newest craze, anyone can join in the fun, even you! At the most basic level, you can choose between MMORPGs and web pages that provide card, quiz and adventure games. Loads of them are provided totally free.

Should you want to discover the best the internet has to show, pick a direct tv wireless ISP. If you desire an inexpensive and highly dependable internet service provider and you have clear views of the sky in the south, choose WildBlue.

Even being as careful as possible with my email address, I still used to receive more than 100 email messages a day, which is no exaggeration. Only about 10% of those emails were from people that I knew and the rest of the messages were unwanted email…”spam”. And I’m sure you can relate to my frustration. It is estimated that over seventy-six billion unwanted email messages were delivered in 2003, costing companies more than $10 billion each year.

So How Do They Get Our Email Addresses?

In making online purchases, you should always realize that your email address could be given or sold, regardless of what the merchant’s privacy policy may state. Even filling out an online survey or registering your email address to become a member of a web site is subject to having your email address given away. Also, there are spider programs that spammers use that search the web and “harvest” email addresses, much like search engine spiders do when they acquire web site information.

Tips To Avoid Getting Spam

1. Don’t Click “Unsubscribe”: On the bottom of some spam emails you will find an “Unsubscribe” link. Some of these are legitimate links, while others are tools to indicate that your email address is valid. Unsubscribing could actually result in getting more unwanted email.

2. Spam Filtering: Some ISPs or domain services carry spam filtering options, and there are filters and rules you can use in some email programs (i.e. Microsoft Outlook, Eudora and Apple’s Mail OSX). While no spam filtering program can eliminate spam completely, it can greatly reduce the amount of spam you receive. But you must be careful in using any sort of spam filtering mechanism, as you may ultimately filter out some of your wanted email.

3. Get Two Email Addresses: Use your primary email address for business or personal use, and the other for making online purchases and for filling out web site registration information.

4. Update Your Web Site: The best overall solution is to have people contact you through a form on your web site, as your email address is not so easily revealed. If you must have direct links to your email address on your site, consider having a link that simply reads “email” or “contact” instead of spelling it out on a web page.

There are many simple methods that you can use to help reduce the amount of spam coming through to your business. By using these tips, you will not only save yourself time and money, but you will ultimately send a strong message to the people send unwanted email.

About The Author

Edward Robirds is a success-driven artist and interactive media developer based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 1996, Edward has been building business relationships with several association and commercial clients around the world. Founder of www.DreamseaArtworks.com, Edward uses his artistic skills, expertise and passion to design and develop web sites, interactive CD-ROMs, and print media for his clients.

mail@dreamseaartworks.com

Remember when spam was just another horrible thing you would never eat? And then you grew up a little and spam became the lyrics to a great Monty Python song. And now spam is something to avoid at all costs. Or, in the case of free spam blockers, at no cost at all. Everything is better when it’s free, right? Such is the case with blocking out annoying spam from your email account, too.

Free spam blockers are popping up all over the internet. Kind of ironic, isn’t it, that some pop-up ads are advertising spam blocking technology. The problem with spam isn’t really the content, of course, it’s the time spent winnowing through all those e-mails in search of the ones that really contain useful information or are from people with whom you want to contact. The best free spam blockers in the world are not only free, but don’t take up any space on your computer. Yes, I’m talking about being very careful to whom you give your e-mail address.

The plain simple truth is that any time you fill out a form that asks for your e-mail address, you are just asking for spam. Maybe the site where you filled out the form sold your address to mass marketers and maybe they didn’t, but chances are if you have ever given your e-mail address to a company rather than an individual, you received spam because of it. And if you’re like most people doing business on the internet, you’re spending anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour and a half just checking your e-mail every day. You don’t have time to wade through the spam pool. That’s why getting yourself one of the reliable free spam blockers out there is so important.

You can almost instantly tell when you’ve come across one of these free spam blockers because of their oh-so-clever name. For instance, Spamhilator, SpamButcher, or SpamKiller. And you want to know a secret? They are almost all exactly alike. Oh sure, there are little differences that may mean a lot to you personally, but frankly it doesn’t matter. The best thing you can do is download them as a trial versionand with so many on the market offering trial versions, it makes no sense to ever download any of the free spam blockers that don’t offer trial versionsand check them out to make sure they do what they promise. And if they do what they promise, do they do it with a minimum amount of fuss and muss and maintenance on you part.

The key to using free spam blockers is maintenance. You got one in the first place to give yourself more time to do what you need to do. So why would you want to use a spam blocker is high maintenance itself? Go through all the free spam blockers that interest you and then narrow them down until you find the one that works completely in the background without throwing out stuff you really need and that doesn’t require you to keep checking up on it. That’s the one you want.

Matt Garrett www.Free-Spam-Blockers.Com
www.Spam-Filters.net

Unwanted email is no joke.

At the very least, unsolicited email wastes everyone’s time.

Much worse however, are the dangers that this unwanted

email brings.

I’m talking about the problems of spyware and adware, of

computer viruses, and of so-called phishing attacks that

enable identity theft and threaten your financial security.

There’s no doubt that reducing unwanted email helps just

about everyone, whether site owner or site visitor. This

article aims to help both.

==ASIDE==

Note: this article is based on 3 Tips to Help Webmasters

Reduce Sp*m in Their Inbox, Today, written a year or so ago.

Webmasters and site owners will find many more tips here

- http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/stop-spam.shtm
l

==ASIDE==

Let’s begin.

Here’s how webmasters and web visitors can reduce unwanted

email:

TIP 1. USE A CHALLENGE RESPONSE SYSTEM

What is a challenge response email system?

Well, “it is an anti-sp*m system which is designed to shift

the filtering workload from the recipient to the sp*mmer (or

the legitimate sender).

“The fundamental idea is that sp*mmers will not take the

time to confirm that they want to send you email, but a

legitimate sender will.” Extracted from

- http://domain-dns.com/docs/challenge_response.htm
l

Basically, a challenge response system aims to prevent

unwanted email getting through to your inbox.

COMMENT:

As a newsletter publisher, I find challenge response email

systems time-consuming to say the least. I have to confirm

my newsletter publication email address is valid so that my

free newsletter gets delivered to my subscribers. For a free

newsletter, that’s a lot of work.

However, I can see that challenge response systems probably

do ‘work’, to a degree.

LINKS:

- http://textmefree.com/control-spam-today.html#cha
llenge

or

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=challeng
e+

response+systems (all one word)

TIP 2. USE DISPOSABLE
EMAIL ADDRESSES

What are disposable email addresses?

Well, without stating the obvious, they’re email addresses

you can dispose of. They’re easy to set up, use once, and

forget. So if someone sends unwanted email to this email

address you’ll most likely never know about it.

COMMENT:

As a site owner and newsletter publisher, I am not a fan of

disposable email addresses being used to become a site-

member, etc. Responsible email marketing is one method that

webmasters or site owners use to keep their site free, after

all.

However, I can see why a site visitor might want to use them

also.

==ASIDE==

Disposable email addresses make perfect sense to use when

requesting one-off information, like my free articles

(ahem!). You receive one free article, like this one, sent

to your email address and nothing else.
- http://www.wise-buys.info/webmaster-articles.shtm
l

==ASIDE==

LINKS:

- http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=disposab
le+email

TIP 3. HIDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

This tip is aimed at anyone who leaves their email address

on a website or online forum.

Either replace all email links on your site with “contact

forms” or encrypt your email address. And be careful when

leaving your email on a forum.

There are several ways you can ‘hide’ your email address but

the basic idea is to try not to leave a ‘live’ email address

on a site or forum. (Technically speaking, I’m talking about

not using mailto: for your email addresses.) And you can do

this by:

o Encrypting your email address with ASCII-code;

o Encrypting your email address using JavaScript;

o Using an anti-sp*m feedback form, only;

o Putting your email address in an image.

As simple as that, really.

==ASIDE==

Hide your email address? From what? Well, programs called

sp*mbots search the internet for email addresses. They get

added to a database, and eventually used by sp*mmers. Find

out how to block sp*m bots from your site here

- http://www.kloth.net/internet/bottrap.php

==ASIDE==

COMMENT:

As a site owner, removing live mailto: links from your

website may take some time, but the amount of time

you’ll eventually save will make this activity worthwhile.

However, not all of the methods discussed above are 100%

sp*m-proof.

Here’s an example of a contact form that uses several of the

above techniques:

- http://www.best-digital-cameras.co.uk/contact-us.
html

As a site visitor, you’re relying on either not using your

real email address (see Tip 2, above), or on hoping that the

owner of the site you’re using has anti sp*m measures in

place to hide your email address. Do take care.

LINKS:

- http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=mailto a>+encrypter

- http://willmaster.com/master/feedback/

- http://www.privacysig.com/

- http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/stop-spam.shtm
l

- http://website101.com/SpamFilter/spamfilter.html<
/a>

TIP 4. FILTER YOUR EMAIL

If all else fails, you simply have to filter your email.

That means automatically deleting the junk via a set of

rules (or filters). How you do this depends on what email

software you use: Outlook, Outlook Express and Eudora have

email filters (sp*m filters) that are easy to train.

Web-based email sites like AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo! etc. also

allow you to filter your email.

COMMENT:

I still rely on this method to filter out unwanted or bad

email, though it never filters out all of the junk. As a

site owner, one way I can be sure that the email is unwanted

is if it’s sent to an email address that I know does not

exist; e.g. AnythingGoes@mysitedo
main.com (I try and

avoid using these catchall email addresses nowadays).

LINKS

- http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.htm

So, there you have it: four tips you can use to reduce

unwanted email, today.

As I said in the beginning of this article, unwanted email

is at the very least an unpleasant waste of time. So it

really is important that you try at least one of the sp*m-

reduction tips shown.

Above all, site owners should remove their mailto: links

from their website, and site visitors should simply take

care when and where they use their email address online.

Everyone can learn more from the resources listed here

- http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/stop-spam.shtm
l

Tennessee resident K. C. “Khan” Smith owes the internet service provider EarthLink $24 million. According to the CNN, in August 2001 he was slapped with a lawsuit accusing him of violating federal and state Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes, the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984, the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 and numerous other state laws. On July 19, 2002 - having failed to appear in court - the judge ruled against him. Mr. Smith is a spammer.

Brightmail, a vendor of e-mail filters and anti-spam applications warned that close to 5 million spam “attacks” or “bursts” occurred in June 2002 and that spam has mushroomed 450 percent since June 2001. This pace continued unabated well into the beginning of 2004 when the introduction of spam filters began to take effect. PC World concurs.

Between one half and three quarters of all e-mail messages are spam or UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) - unsolicited and intrusive commercial ads, mostly concerned with sex, scams, get rich quick schemes, financial services and products, and health articles of dubious provenance. The messages are sent from spoofed or fake e-mail addresses. Some spammers hack into unsecured servers - mainly in China and Korea - to relay their missives anonymously.

Starting in 2003, malicious hackers began using spam to install malware - such as viruses, adware, spyware, and Trojans - on the unprotected personal computers of less savvy users. They thus transform these computers into “zombies”, organize them into spam-spewing “bots” (networks), and sell access to them to criminals on penumbral boards and forums all over the Net.

Spam is an industry. Mass e-mailers maintain lists of e-mail addresses, often “harvested” by spamware bots - specialized computer applications - from Web sites. These lists are rented out or sold to marketers who use bulk mail services. They come cheap - c. $100 for 10 million addresses. Bulk mailers provide servers and bandwidth, charging c. $300 per million messages sent.

As spam recipients become more inured, ISPs less tolerant, and both more litigious - spammers multiply their efforts in order to maintain the same response rate. Spam works. It is not universally unwanted - which makes it tricky to outlaw. It elicits between 0.1 and 1 percent in positive follow ups, depending on the message. Many messages now include HTML, JavaScript, and ActiveX coding and thus resemble (or actually contain) viruses and Trojans.

Jupiter Media Matrix predicted in 2001 that the number of spam messages annually received by a typical Internet user will double to 1400 and spending on legitimate e-mail marketing will reach $9.4 billion by 2006 - compared to $1 billion in 2001. Forrester Research pegs the number at $4.8 billion in 2003.

More than 2.3-5 billion spam messages are sent daily. eMarketer puts the figures a lot lower at 76 billion messages in 2002. By 2006, daily spam output will soar to c. 15 billion missives, says Radicati Group. Jupiter projects a more modest 268 billion annual messages this year (2005). An average communication costs the spammer 0.00032 cents.

PC World quotes the European Union as pegging the bandwidth costs of spam worldwide in 2002 at $8-10 billion annually. Other damages include server crashes, time spent purging unwanted messages, lower productivity, aggravation, and increased cost of Internet access.

Inevitably, the spam industry gave rise to an anti-spam industry. According to a Radicati Group report titled “Anti-virus, anti-spam, and content filtering market trends 2002-2006″, anti-spam revenues were projected to exceed $88 million in 2002 - and more than double by 2006. List blockers, report and complaint generators, advocacy groups, registers of known spammers, and spam filters all proliferate. The Wall Street Journal reported in its June 25, 2002 issue about a resurgence of anti-spam startups financed by eager venture capital.

ISPs are bent on preventing abuse - reported by victims - by expunging the accounts of spammers. But the latter simply switch ISPs or sign on with free services like Hotmail and Yahoo! Barriers to entry are getting lower by the day as the costs of hardware, software, and communications plummet.

The use of e-mail and broadband connections by the general population is spreading. Hundreds of thousands of technologically-savvy operators have joined the market in the last five years, as the dotcom bubble burst. Still, Steve Linford of the UK-based Spamhaus.org insists that most spam emanates from c. 80 large operators.

Now, according to Jupiter Media, ISPs and portals are poised to begin to charge advertisers in a tier-based system, replete with premium services. Writing back in 1998, Bill Gates described a solution also espoused by Esther Dyson, chair of the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

“As I first described in my book ‘The Road Ahead’ in 1995, I expect that eventually you’ll be paid to read unsolicited e-mail. You’ll tell your e-mail program to discard all unsolicited messages that don’t offer an amount of money that you’ll choose. If you open a paid message and discover it’s from a long-lost friend or somebody else who has a legitimate reason to contact you, you’ll be able to cancel the payment. Otherwise, you’ll be paid for your time.”

Subscribers may not be appreciative of the joint ventures between gatekeepers and inbox clutterers. Moreover, dominant ISPs, such as AT&T and PSINet have recurrently been accused of knowingly collaborating with spammers. ISPs rely on the data traffic that spam generates for their revenues in an ever-harsher business environment.

The Financial Times and others described how WorldCom refuses to ban the sale of spamware over its network, claiming that it does not regulate content. When “pink” (the color of canned spam) contracts came to light, the implicated ISPs blame the whole affair on rogue employees.

PC World begs to differ:

“Ronnie Scelson, a self-described spammer who signed such a contract with PSInet, (says) that backbone providers are more than happy to do business with bulk e-mailers. ‘I’ve signed up with the biggest 50 carriers two or three times’, says Scelson … The Louisiana-based spammer claims to send 84 million commercial e-mail messages a day over his three 45-megabit-per-second DS3 circuits. ‘If you were getting $40,000 a month for each circuit’, Scelson asks, ‘would you want to shut me down?’”

The line between permission-based or “opt-in” e-mail marketing and spam is getting thinner by the day. Some list resellers guarantee the consensual nature of their wares. According to the Direct Marketing Association’s guidelines, quoted by PC World, not responding to an unsolicited e-mail amounts to “opting-in” - a marketing strategy known as “opting out”. Most experts, though, strongly urge spam victims not to respond to spammers, lest their e-mail address is confirmed.

But spam is crossing technological boundaries. Japan has just legislated against wireless SMS spam targeted at hapless mobile phone users. Many states in the USA as well as the European parliament have followed suit. Ideas regarding a “do not spam” list akin to the “do not call” list in telemarketing have been floated. Mobile phone users will place their phone numbers on the list to avoid receiving UCE (spam). Email subscribers enjoy the benefits of a similar list under the CAN-Spam Act of 2003.

Expensive and slow connections make mobile phone spam and spim (instant messaging spam) particularly resented. Still, according to Britain’s Mobile Channel, a mobile advertising company quoted by “The Economist”, SMS advertising - a novelty - attracts a 10-20 percent response rate - compared to direct mail’s 1-3 percent.

Net identification systems - like Microsoft’s Passport and the one proposed by Liberty Alliance - will make it even easier for marketers to target prospects.

The reaction to spam can be described only as mass hysteria. Reporting someone as a spammer - even when he is not - has become a favorite pastime of vengeful, self-appointed, vigilante “cyber-cops”. Perfectly legitimate, opt-in, email marketing businesses and discussion forums often find themselves in one or more black lists - their reputation and business ruined.

In January 2002, CMGI-owned Yesmail was awarded a temporary restraining order against MAPS - Mail Abuse Prevention System - forbidding it to place the reputable e-mail marketer on its Real-time Blackhole list. The case was settled out of court.

Harris Interactive, a large online opinion polling company, sued not only MAPS, but ISPs who blocked its email messages when it found itself included in MAPS’ Blackhole. Their CEO accused one of their competitors for the allegations that led to Harris’ inclusion in the list.

Coupled with other pernicious phenomena - such as viruses, Trojans, and spyware - the very foundation of the Internet as a fun, relatively safe, mode of communication and data acquisition is at stake.

Spammers, it emerges, have their own organizations. NOIC - the National Organization of Internet Commerce threatened to post to its Web site the e-mail addresses of millions of AOL members. AOL has aggressive anti-spamming policies. “AOL is blocking bulk email because it wants the advertising revenues for itself (by selling pop-up ads)” the president of NOIC, Damien Melle, complained to CNET.

Spam is a classic “free rider” problem. For any given individual, the cost of blocking a spammer far outweighs the benefits. It is cheaper and easier to hit the “delete” key. Individuals, therefore, prefer to let others do the job and enjoy the outcome - the public good of a spam-free Internet. They cannot be left out of the benefits of such an aftermath - public goods are, by definition, “non-excludable”. Nor is a public good diminished by a growing number of “non-rival” users.

Such a situation resembles a market failure and requires government intervention through legislation and enforcement. The FTC - the US Federal Trade Commission - has taken legal action against more than 100 spammers for promoting scams and fraudulent goods and services.

“Project Mailbox” is an anti-spam collaboration between American law enforcement agencies and the private sector. Non government organizations have entered the fray, as have lobbying groups, such as CAUCE - the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail.

But, a few recent anti-spam and anti-spyware Acts notwithstanding, Congress is curiously reluctant to enact stringent laws against spam. Reasons cited are free speech, limits on state powers to regulate commerce, avoiding unfair restrictions on trade, and the interests of small business. The courts equivocate as well. In some cases - e.g., Missouri vs. American Blast Fax - US courts found “that the provision prohibiting the sending of unsolicited advertisements is unconstitutional”.

According to Spamlaws.com, the 107th Congress, for instance, discussed these laws but never enacted them:

Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2001 (H.R. 95), Wireless Telephone Spam Protection Act (H.R. 113), Anti-Spamming Act of 2001 (H.R. 718), Anti-Spamming Act of 2001 (H.R. 1017), Who Is E-Mailing Our Kids Act (H.R. 1846), Protect Children From E-Mail Smut Act of 2001 (H.R. 2472), Netizens Protection Act of 2001 (H.R. 3146), “CAN SPAM” Act of 2001 (S. 630).

Anti-spam laws fared no better in the 106th Congress. Some of the states have picked up the slack. Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The situation is no better across the pond. The European parliament decided in 2001 to allow each member country to enact its own spam laws, thus avoiding a continent-wide directive and directly confronting the communications ministers of the union. Paradoxically, it also decided, in March 2002, to restrict SMS spam. Confusion clearly reigns. Finally, in May 2002, it adopted strong anti-spam provisions as part of a Directive on Data Protection.

Responding to this unfavorable legal environment, spam is relocating to developing countries, such as Malaysia, Nepal, and Nigeria. In a May 2005 report, the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) warned that these countries lack the technical know-how and financial resources (let alone the will) to combat spam. Their users, anyhow deprived of bandwidth, endure, as a result, a less reliable service and an intermittent access to the Internet;

“Spam is a much more serious issue in developing countries…as it is a heavy drain on resources that are scarcer and costlier in developing countries than elsewhere” - writes the report’s author, Suresh Ramasubramanian, an OECD advisor and postmaster for Outblaze.com.

ISPs, spam monitoring services, and governments in the rich industrialized world react by placing entire countries - such as Macedonia and Costa Rica - on black lists and, thus denying access to their users en bloc.

International collaboration against the looming destruction of the Internet by crime organizations is budding. The FTC had just announced that it will work with its counterparts abroad to cut zombie computers off the network. A welcome step - but about three years late. Spammers the world over are still six steps ahead and are having the upper hand.

Sam Vaknin ( samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Global Politician, Central Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline, and eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.

Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

Visit Sam’s Web site at samvak.tripod.com

Every day, both dmoestic and corporate users of the internet receive considerable amounts of spam e-mail. They are not only annoying, but sometimes you can miss an important e-mail or newsletter simply because you lose it among the great number of e-mails that flood out your Inbox. Often you’ll find that important people neglect to read your e-mail, because busy people like them hardly have the time and patience to browse through the huge quantities of spam mail they receive.

One solution to this problem is a filter or a free spam blocker. Many companies have designed filters for their customers. Many e-mail servers, especially the renowned ones that have a reputation to protect, have their own free spam blocker. There are several types of programs that can help you stop spam, including:

- the ones that are offered when you create a new e-mail address. Every company that provides e-mail service has a spam filter, including those that offer free accounts like Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail and so forth.

- there are also standalone programs that go through your mail folders regularly and do their best to separate valid e-mail from spam and unwanted mail. The main disadvantage with these free spam blockers is the fact that, when they do their checks, they use quite a large percentage of your computer’s resources and sometimes also of your bandwidth. Before installing this kind of free spam blocker, you’ll need to decide if this is okay with you.

- other types of free spam blockers are the ones that work as plug-ins to other programs like e-mail clients. The disadvantage with this kind of approach is that you need to download all your mail anyway, before the plug-in can do its stuff.

When you decide to use a filter, you must be sure that you update it or install new versions regularly, because marketing researchers working for spammres are continuously developing new ways of ‘fooling’ the filters. Filter makers must keep up by improving their software accordingly.

A free spam blocker works by looking for trigger words or phrases inside the text of the e-mails, and categorizing e-mails on that basis. Nowadays, there are special programs being created that are designed to pass spam through free spam blockers by re-arranging words or using a different language style in the e-mails. This is an unfair marketing strategy, of course, but if you want to be protected against it, you must always have an up-to-date version of your free spam blocker program.

Specialists recommend that you should review your needs and see what kind of filter suits you best. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. You must make up your mind whether you want to use the default filter on the e-mail server, or if you want to download all your mail before scanning them, or if you are willing to share your bandwidth with a standalone application. The best way is of course, if you can blend all the programs in one, but that’s not always practicable. Still, it is advisable that you should not remain satisfied with the free spam blocker that your e-mail server provides, because you will probably continue to receive unwanted mail in spite of it. Using a plugin in addition to server-side filters is viewed by many experts as the most effective way of getting rid of spam, considering the trivial effort it takes to set up.

Matt Garrett www.Free-Spam-Blockers.Com
www.Spam-Filters.net

With anti spam vendors offering low cost licensing, businesses can now afford advanced email spam and virus protection with a simple to use interface at a much lower cost. The great thing about technology is that as it evolves it gets faster, additional features and economical. Over the past few years the same evolution has taken place with anti spam technology and services. In large part this can be attributed to the open source software community plus enterprising companies enhancing the capabilities of this software and packaging it into easy to use anti spam appliances.

It is not practical to have anti spam software running on desktops in a networked business environment. Managing all employee junk email software at the desktop is not realistic. It can be a nightmare and costly in terms time and licensing.

Spam appliances sit in front of your email server so that when email comes in it will first go to the spam appliance and the email will be scanned for spam as well as viruses. The filter will block the message if it identified as know spam. If the filter is not sure if the email is genuine it will quarantine and hold the email at the filter and it will be stored until the recipient deletes it, releases it to their email box, or they can white list a trusted correspondent so that future emails will not be held back. This will greatly reduce the load on your email server and reduce your bandwidth needs. We have seen anti spam systems block up to 83% of incoming messages. This could help extend the life of your email server and push back the need for upgraded capacity.

Most virus outbreaks occur via email and for little cost an appliance can block viruses before they reach your network and user’s inboxes. This provides an extra layer of defense in addition to your current anti virus solution.

Businesses have two options if they use an appliance based solution for their spam and virus control. They can purchase and administer their own filter. This is a good option if you have a large number of employee mailboxes to protect and the technical staff to administer the spam appliance. Businesses also have the option to outsource their spam control as a hosted service. This is a good choice for smaller companies and if information technology is not your specialty.

If you purchase your own spam filter, a subscription to updates may also be required. Make sure you get upfront pricing for the add-ons that you will need. If you have more than 100 email users and the technical staff to maintain the spam appliance, buying your own filter may be your best option. Generally the basic model will work for most organizations. Large organizations with thousands of users will require a spam filter appliance with increases capacity and features. Spam appliances are designed to work with all mail systems but some do have specific enhancements for Exchange server Microsoft’s popular collaboration software and mail servers that support LDAP (light weight directory access protocol). Spam appliances use the LDAP protocol to verify recipients before delivering messages to your email server, this avoids consuming server resources.

If your business has five to one hundred employees, then an outsourced anti spam and virus filter service is going to be a good economical choice for your organization. Fees are based on the number of users and you only pay for what you use. You will not have hardware to buy, maintain, and upgrade. The upfront cost is minimal and most email filtering providers will let you try the service for free at first. Another added benefit to outsourcing your spam control is redundancy. It is important that you choose a provider that has their spam and virus filters collocated at secure internet data center facilities. Data centers provide redundant network connections and power, so if your email server or internet connection is down unexpectedly the spam appliance will hold your email until your email server becomes available, minus spam and viruses.

Anti spam technology is constantly improving and the costs are getting lower. With increased productivity and an added layer of defense against virus attacks, an anti spam appliance or service is something your business can not afford to be without.

John Tourloukis is the founder of Fast PC Networks an internet consulting company and anti spam and virus filter service firm