SPAM: The Unethical Email Phenomenon Essay -- Internet

SPAM: The Unethical Email Phenomenon It's what's for breakfast. As I wake from my deep sleep of twelve hours, I step out of bed and go about my daily summer routine. I wash my face and peruse through the fridge for something to eat; its noon, meaning the mail is in. I step out of the house to check the mailbox. I’ve always looked forward to receiving the mail, as most people do until they are old enough to pay the bills. I bring back the mail to the dining table as I commence to eat the leftover SPAM my mom cooked and hope for a magazine or catalog to look at. As I sift through the hoard of envelopes at my disposal, I sort them into their respective categories: â€Å"Bill, bill, junk mail, letter, junk mail, letter, catalog, bill, junk mail, magazine!† I toss out all the junk mail and keep the stuff I really am going to read: the sports catalog and car magazine. After finishing breakfast, I head back to my room and turn on my computer, log onto the internet and check my yahoo email inbox. As I log into my account, I notice the glowing red warning that my inbox is at 101% capacity. I receive 8 new emails, 5 of which are obvious junk mail, 2 mysterious emails addressed to my name, and another email which I was expecting from a teacher. I immediately delete the obvious SPAM which I have trained myself to notice right away after years of internet use, then spend time to open and view both mysterious emails which also turn out to be SPAM. After all that energy is spent, I am finally able read my teacher's important e-mail. Remembering that my inbox is blinking red, I delete the bulk mail folder that yahoo has graciously provided as a SPAM filter, which holds 94 new SPAM emails, then finally empty out my email trash. Luckily,... ...SPAM Bill ." San Jose Mercury News 24 September 2003 : 1A. [11] "SPAM - Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail ." 23 October 2003 . Electronic Privacy Information Center. 15 November 2003 <http://www.epic.org/privacy/junk_mail/spam/>. [12] "E-MAILS SENT TO HOUSE FILES FOUND TO PRODUCE HIGHEST RETURN-ON-INVESTMENT FOR SOLICITING DIRECT ORDERS." DMA Press Release. 13 October 2003. DMA. 14 November 2003 <http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/disppressrelease?article=518>. [13] Krim, Jonathan. "Spam's Cost To Business Escalates ." Washington Post 13 March 2003. Business. 3 November 2003 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A17754-2003Mar12>. [14] Black, Jane. "Before Spam Brings the Web to Its Knees." Business Week 10 June 2003. Special Report: The Social Web. 12 November 2003 <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2003/tc20030610_1670_tc104.htm>.