Commercial non-solicited communication is a growing problem, bringing calls for tighter anti-Spam legislation. Different nations have adopted varying approaches to regulate spam. These approaches range from laissez-faire through to tight restrictions on sending unsolicited messages. This article discusses the definition of spam, the need for regulating them and the legislative efforts made by various countries to curb them.

Spam is defined as an Unsolicited Bulk E-mail (UBE) or Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE). In either case, it is important to note that spam means an `unsolicited' communication where there is no prior relationship or communication between the parties concerned. Here the recipient has not explicitly consented to receive such communication. In other words, when an individual or a corporate sends messages to an individual or to a large group of individuals in an effort to force the communication upon them, it is referred to as spam. It is one of the most economical modes of communication. The advertisers can use this tool for the promotion of products or services. However, of late, there has been a tremendous increase in the spam mails sent to the recipients. If these promotional strategies continue at the same pace, they are expected to cross 50% of the global e-mail traffic. The tremendous increase in spam also has the potential of destroying some of the major benefits that are brought about by services, such as e-mail and SMSs. This growth, in turn, will hinder the rise in e-commerce and it may indirectly affect the developments in online advertising. It has been established that the most prevalent spam is the advertising-related spam, which accounts for more than 36% of the unwanted and unsolicited mails. The maximum number of spam e-mails are generated in the US, followed by Brazil and India. India, thus, occupies the third position among the list of spam mails originators. It has also been found that one out of every thirty e-mails send as spam contains a virus.

One of the top spam doing rounds during this period of economic downturn and unemployment is the spam mails related to jobs. When these mails are sent, the spam message links to the company where the recipient had applied for and sometimes these spam messages also indicate the recipient to open an attachment, which is a copy of the recipient's application that was sent via e-mail. If the recipient opens the attachment, the entire system gets corrupted with viruses. Spammer malicious virus is a program used by the spammers and hackers to attack the mail boxes by flooding them with e-mails. Spam has greater chances of enhancing botnets and malware, etc., which can affect the computer and its network.

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