Hui's JOMC221 Journal

I propose to research spam. Basically, spam is unsolicited email. As a topic, it can be considered in many ways. Spam has commercial, technical, ethical, legal and artistic aspects to it.

In particular, I have chosen to focus on the so-called “4-1-9 Scam” as my main research topic. You must know the 4-1-9 scam. Here is one popular variation: An email that offers you a windfall to liberate some money from some deposed head of state’s bank account. It is a particularly effective and pervasive form of spam. I wish to determine what makes it so effective.

First, here are some basic questions to consider about spam in general:

1. What exactly is spam?

2. Does spam have appeal? Who likes spam?

3. Who started spam? Where? When? What is the history of spam?

4. What percentage of all email is unsolicited?

5. Is all unsolicited email spam?

6. What do people think about receiving spam?

7. Who sends spam?

8. What companies send and/or facilitate spam?

9. What is a spam list?

10. Who gets on a spam list? How and why?

11. Is all spam commercial in nature?

12. How can people get off a spam list?

13. How much does a spam list cost?

14. Where can I buy a spam list?

15. Is it a cost-effective way of marketing a product and/or service?

16. How much money has been made using spam?

17. What is the most money made from a spam email?

18. Does spam cost money? Why? How much money?

19. What is the total economic impact of spam?

20. What are effective/ineffective spam emails?

21. Does spam have technical aspects?

22. Are spammers able to beat anti-spam software?

23. Why do spam emails sometimes have long lists of words?

24. What is anti-spam software? How does it work?

25. What is the most/least effective anti-spam software?

26. How much money is made by anti-spam companies?

27. What are the technical aspects of spam?

28. Who wrote the most popular spam emails? When? Where?

29. Are there organizations of spammers?

30. What is the demographic information about spammers?

31. Are there famous spammers? Who? Why are they famous?

32. Is sending spam an ethical way to do business?

33. Is responding to spam ethical?

34. Is it ethical to spam a spammer?

35. Is all spam unethical? Why?

36. Does/Should society care about spam?

37. What laws pertain to spam?

38. Who proposes new laws relating to spam?

39. Are there international anti-spam organizations?

40. What countries cooperate about anti-spam measures?

41. What are the penalties for spamming?

42. What has been the harshest penalty given to a spammer?

43. Are the spammers dissuaded by the penalties?

44. Do spammers fight against current or proposed laws?

45. What are some good proposals?

46. What are the psychological aspects of spam?

47. Can spam be art? How?

48. How do communication theorists view spam?

49. Is there a spam hall of fame?

50. What is the future of spam?

Each question can be addressed with respect to the 4-1-9 scam.

Here is a good place to preface my research with my reasons. Spam bugs me. Personally, I do not think about spam unless it wastes my time. I often open email that has nothing to do with me. Then I get angry about the wasted ten seconds of my life.

Email has subject headers and text bodies with keywords. These keywords make it easier to filter out spam. Still, spam gets through. I am especially impressed that 4-1-9 scams get through so often—much more than other forms of spam. These spammers must be highly skilled. I am curious about them and the people who fall victim to them.

Furthermore, I think my MSN account does a better job of protecting me than my preferred Yahoo! one. I am also curious about who profits from spam and who is serious about stopping it. In some cases, such as Yahoo!, spam profits are made by people and companies that “fight” spam. It is a curious thing.