Should spam emails be banned Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Should spam emails be banned - Essay Example A poll conducted by BBC showed that 93% of the people wanted the spam emails to be banned because of the concerns that these spam emails are causing in the society. It was witnessed that the spam emails were increased by 80% in the beginning of the year 2002 and the demand for an anti spam software increased with the greater number of spam emails. The problem of spam email has reached its limits as even the large companies such as Microsoft are being affected by it. In 2005 Microsoft charged Levon Gillespie on the charges of providing shelter to the spammers so that they could send bulk emails to the customers of Microsoft itself. An Act is known as ‘Can Spam Act’ was formulated in the United States in the year of 2004 after which the spam emails on the internet have increased by around 80 percent. The problem of spam emails is not only limited to illegal advertising and unwanted emails but also expands to viruses which can be found in these emails. Internet users who do not know much about viruses tend to get caught up in a whirlwind as the spammers use the computers of these individuals without their permission to send spam emails.  A poll conducted by BBC showed that 93% of the people wanted the spam emails to be banned because of the concerns that these spam emails are causing in the society. It was witnessed that the spam emails were increased by 80% in the beginning of the year 2002 and the demand for an anti spam software increased with the greater number of spam emails.   The problem of spam email has reached its limits as even the large companies such as Microsoft are being affected by it. In 2005 Microsoft charged Levon Gillespie on the charges of providing shelter to the spammers so that they could sent bulk emails to the customers of Microsoft itself. An Act known as ‘Can Spam Act’ was formulated in the United States in the year of 2004 after which the spam emails on the internet have increased by around 80 percent. The problem of spam emails is not only limited to illegal advertising and unwanted mails but also expands to viruses which can be found in these emails. Internet users who do not know much about viruses tend to get caught up in a whirlwind as the spammers use the computers of these individuals without their permission to send spam emails (Zeller 2005). Moreover a research by the Standford University showed that a regular internet user spends almost 10 days of a year handling the incoming spam of emails. Spam emails have not only proved to be unethical but they have also increased financial problems for the companies (Zeller 2005). Analysts maintained that companies might suffer a financial balance of around $50 billion because of the spam emails that are being sent. An example of a company which was struck by spam emails in 2006 was Blue Security Inc. In an attempt to stop the spammers from sending spam to their customers the company started spamming the spammers from the emails of the ir customers. This resulted in a counter attack by the spammers stating that they would reach new horizons by hacking into the accounts of their customers. The spam in 2006 not only affected Blue Security Inc but also affected other companies as it increased the internet traffic. The company Blue Security closed its website after the spam event (Krebs 2006). On the other hand many argue that spam should not be banned because it is not a serious crime like killing or terrorist attacks. This can be witnessed in the policy of the United States which did not enact any spam law for many years. Others argue that spam emails help to learn more about things which people are unaware about of. They think that spam can help them to know about products or services which they can avail in the society these days. Spam is not an issue of serious concerns as argued by the opponents (BBC News 2002). Conclusion However in the recent years it is seen that Europe has also implemented certain laws which do not allow emails to be sent without the consent of the recipient. But it is still seen that the measures taken by