Spam's Not Canned - February 18, 2004

Despite new regulations surrounding commercial e-mail, spam is still on the loose.

A monthly survey conducted by MX Logic found that over the past month, only 3 percent of unsolicited commercial e-mail was in compliance with the Can-Spam Act. Spam senders, it seems, are in no hurry to mend their ways.

"Three percent is a negligible increase in Can-Spam compliance compared to the less than one percent compliance rate we found during the first week of January," says Scott Chasin, chief technology officer at MX Logic. "The overwhelming majority of unsolicited commercial e-mail continues to breach the new federal anti-spam law."

The results suggest more than laws are needed to reduce the spam epidemic, he says. "MX Logic supports the intent of the Can-Spam Act, but a comprehensive solution for reducing spam must also include robust technology solutions, industry cooperation and end-user education."

As part of its ongoing monitoring of the commercial e-mail space, MX Logic examined a random sample of 10,000 unsolicited commercial e-mails each week over four weeks ending February 6, 2004. More than 50 percent of Internet e-mail is spam, viruses, and other unwanted content. Last year, industry analysts at Ferris Research estimated that unsolicited e-mail is costing U.S. companies $10 billion to $13 billion per year. Spam results in lost productivity, communication bandwidth consumption, increased storage costs, IT resource drain, and increased corporate liability.