CAN SPAM: Still A Failure

from the in-case-you-were-wondering... dept

I'm sure this will surprise, well, no one, but the CAN SPAM Act still hasn't done anything to slow down spam. In fact, it looks like even fewer spam messages are complying with the requirements in the law. When it was first passed, many people said that it would take some time for spammers to understand the law and add in the required info. Instead, it looks like (despite the series of lawsuits filed), most spammers don't care at all. Out of 547,685 messages studied, only 71 complied with the law: 0.013% That number seems way too low. In fact, another study, says that they found nearly 10% complied. That's still low, but it's a lot more than 0.013%. That second study also noted, by the way, that Viagra is the king of spam, as 14.1% of all spam messages now advertise the drug. So, is it time to change tactics? People seem to be getting worked up over an MSNBC story saying the FTC is considering a bounty system, but that isn't news. They announced it over a month ago, and it doesn't appear as if anything has changed. All the MSNBC piece adds to the debate is that people on both sides of the spam issue think it's a terrible idea that will cause more problems than it solves. Sounds like nothing new at all...