Electronic Spam

Electronic Spamming is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages (spam), especially advertising, indiscriminately. While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, online classified ads spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam, junk fax transmissions, social networking spam, social spam, television advertising and file sharing spam. It is named for Spam, a luncheon meat, by way of a Monty Python sketch in which Spam is included in almost every dish.[1] Spamming remains economically viable because advertisers have no operating costs beyond the management of their mailing lists, and it is difficult to hold senders accountable for their mass mailings. Because the barrier to entry is so low, spammers are numerous, and the volume of unsolicited mail has become very high. In the year 2011, the estimated figure for spam messages is around seven trillion. The costs, such as lost productivity and fraud, are borne by the public and by Internet service providers, which have been forced to add extra capacity to cope with the deluge. Spamming has been the subject of legislation in many jurisdictions.[2] A person who creates electronic spam is called a spammer.[3] Contents 1 In different media 1.1 Email 1.2 Instant messaging 1.3 Newsgroup and forum 1.4 Mobile phone 1.5 Social networking spam 1.6 Social spam 1.7 Online game messaging 1.8 Spam targeting search engines (spamdexing) 1.9 Blog, wiki, and guestbook 1.10 Spam targeting video sharing sites 1.11 SPIT 1.12 Academic Search 2 Noncommercial forms 3 Geographical origins 4 History 4.1 Pre-Internet 4.2 Etymology 4.3 History of Internet spam 5 Trademark issues

6 Cost-benefit analyses 6.1 General costs 7 In crime 8 Political issues 9 Court cases 9.1 United States 9.2 United Kingdom 9.3 New Zealand 9.4 Bulgaria 10...