What is spam? Is it acceptable?

Very important: please review our Acceptable Usage Policies and Spam Policy page!

The definition given in the excellent Matrix News article by the well known Internet specialist John Quarterman is quoted below:

"It's an attempt to send out so many solicitations for money that even a tiny fraction of a percent of responses is enough to make a profit. It's electronic junk mail."

Spamming has become a rampant problem on the Internet. At first glance, it appears no different than the junk mail that annoyingly fills our physical mailboxes. But there are some distinct differences. Please see Quarterman's article for more discussions about the reasons why this is far more harmful than it would at first appear. Also, because spam does take up bandwidth, it is one of the main causes of Internet delays.

For these reasons, spamming is definitely not acceptable. In the US, it's well known that sending junk faxes to others is illegal. Legislation has already been passed in several US States and by the U.S. Congress, and other states are also moving to prohibit sending spam or unsolicited email to others as well. Please see the following FAQ article for further discussions.

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