Defining Spam

Spam, according to Spamhaus.org, is email that:

1.) The recipient has not granted permission to receive.

2.) The same message has been sent in bulk.

According to Spamhaus, consent, not content is what determines an email to be considered bulk.

However, the Yahoo anti-spam resource center expands on Spamhaus' definition. Yahoo explains that the unsolicited email must be commercial, and sent with the hope that the recipient will buy products or services. The anti-spam resource center also explains that since spam is free for the spammer, any reaction, even if it is only by a few recipients, is worth the time spent spamming.

University of Texas Director of ITS, Marge Knox asked a relevant question to the Fall, 2004 UT Interactive Advertising class about spam.

“I send bulk mail to students every day. Does that mean that I'm a spammer?”

Because part of her job is to get technology and related information to UT students, Knox has to send over 50,000 emails on the same subject. To save time and get the email to the thousands of students on campus, it makes the most sense for this email to be sent in bulk. However, I wouldn't wage the Knox is a spammer any more than I would contend that a Public Service Announcement is a Radio commercial. Though the UT students have not given Knox direct consent, I would say that they have given implied consent to the messages, just as a member of a company has given implied consent to receive memos or informational newsletters from their company through email. If bulk unsolicited email is in some way relevant to the recipient and not for commercial use, the line of what is spam and what is not should be clear.

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