Australian Internet Industry Association (AIIA) takes on an anti-spam stand

In an attempt to help Internet users fight the ever-spiraling levels of spam deluging their e-mail systems, the Australian Internet Industry Association has declared war on Spam by offering consumers a free, one-month trial of a range of anti-spam software.

Last year, it appears the worldwide spam statistics went ballistic. Australia’s on-line community received over one billion Spam messages. According to the National Office for the Information Economy, this represented more than a doubling of the previous year. The NOIE report clearly identifies spam as the term used to describe “unsolicited and unwanted electronic messaging, particularly email”.

The AIIA initiative follows close on the heels of the release of the National Office of the Information Economy’s (NOIE) report into spam, strongly urging the government to introduce new forms of legislation to combat the alarming growth of problem electronic junk mail. America and other countries are already well down this path

The NOIE report suggests that at least 35 per cent of all inbound business messages are now considered spam; this is expected to rise to 50 per cent by 2005. By many experts reckoning, not to mention many average users of the Internet, this is an extremely conservative estimate. Spam is said to consume around 20 per cent of all email traffic, the NOIE report further found.

Why has the Australian Internet Industry Association taken up this initiative now?
This new anti-spam campaign is an attempt to reassure Internet users that “there is an option for controlling this scourge” before people simply “switch off” and stop using the Internet completely.

The IIA Spam Campaign is a direct response to the growing concern being expressed by many users that spam is quickly killing the Internet and limiting the usefulness of email as a communication tool. It is not uncommon for people to start each day by deleting dozens, sometimes hundreds of unwanted emails from their inboxes. Unfortunately almost all of this spam will run the full range from nuisance to nauseating, without doubt it is usually very unwelcome.

How come I can’t identify when e-mail is spam?
In general spammers will reword their e-mail to evade spam filters, others use even more aggressive tricks to disguise the contents of their messages and to send them via roundabout paths so their true origin can't be determined.

Why don't we have an easier solution to the Spam problem?
Today's spam problem defies a ready solution. The Internet e-mail system, originally designed to be easy to use, flexible and open, is so fundamentally trusting of its users that it is easy to hide where an e-mail message is coming from and even what it is about.

Probably more importantly, spam thrives because, with a simple computer, an Internet connection and a mailing list, it is remarkably easy and inexpensive to set up a career in e-mail marketing. Companies that sell products from vitamins to home finance or items like penis and breast enlargement kits will allow just about any e-mail marketer to pitch their wares and get paid a commission for any completed sale.

The tiny cost of sending e-mail compared to that of postal mailings, allows senders to make money on products bought by as little as one recipient for every 100,000 e-mail messages. E-mail marketer can now buy 200 million e-mail addresses for as little as thirty-five dollars.

Just how do spammers and E-mail marketers get our e-mail addresses?
Some “legitimate” E-mail marketers get valid lists of addresses from valid sources and would argue that no one is forced to sign up for e-mail pitches. They would say that the attack on spam has already gone too far, interfering with legitimate business opportunities.

However much lower on the marketing food chain than opt-in mailing is what the industry calls “bulk e-mailing”; these individuals blast a message out to any e-mail address they can find. They use addresses harvested by software robots that read message boards, chat rooms and Web sites.

Yet others use a method called dictionary attacks. They send mail to every conceivable address at e-mail or ISP providers. Firstly e-mail is sent to, say, FredA@example.com, then FredB@example.com, and so forth - to find the legitimate names.

Do E-mail marketers have a defence of their position?
One approach to limiting spam, favoured by big marketers, is by creating a "white list" of approved senders. This of course immediately raises the question of who would compile and control such a list. There are suggestions by one group that would allow senders to certify their identities in every e-mail message they send and report a rating of how much they comply with good mailing standards. Users and Internet service providers would then have the opportunity to decide what sort of mail they choose to accept.

Rather than this type self-regulatory approach, government, such as the NOIE anti-spam legislation will try to make deceptive e-mail practices illegal completely. It seeks to force commercial e-mail messages to identify the true sender, have an accurate subject line and offer recipients an easy, reliable way to remove their names from marketing lists and impose fines for violators.

How can people take advantage of AIIA anti-spam opportunity?
The IIA offer will be available to consumers between now and May 16, 2003. By visiting the web site http://www.iia.net.au/nospam a series of download links and explanations can be found. The IIA Spam Campaign is a response to the growing concern being expressed by users that spam is killing the Internet and limiting the utility of email as a communication tool.

Arthur Hissey
Computer Research & Technology
www.crt.net.au