Term Paper on "SPAM-Project Proposal Canning SPAM: Before it Kills"

Term Paper 13 pages (4281 words) Sources: 7

[EXCERPT] . . . .

SPAM-Project Proposal

Canning SPAM: Before it Kills the Goose

The background of this research project is the proliferation of unwanted, unsolicited junk email which is clogging the arteries of the Internet. Bill Gates predicted some years back that we would solve the SPAM problem by 2006. It has not happened, and the problem is worse than ever. Since much of what I do and plan to do in the future depends upon the availability and accessibility of this vast resource I really wonder if it is being slowly spammed to death.

SPAM is not new, as it was junk mail for a long time. However, the senders of junk snail mail paid to send it. Email has historically not been limited as to how much you can receive. Very generous bandwidth use and data transfer has set very high limits on sending per IP address, that is, per each particular account on each particular computer. Now, some ISPs, of note AOL and MSN have actually set a sending limit on all accounts. MSN's limit is 5000, and if you receive any complaints that is reduced to 250 per account per day. After three bonafide complaints your account may be blocked and you have to call MSN tier two tech support to get it opened again. After three or four calls to MSN tier two technical support, you are referred to Microsoft. Does this work? Well, sort of.

News of SPAM is all over the Internet and conferences on seeking solutions abound. One study released in November says that SPAM now accounts for 91% of all new emails, and has increased 120% over the past twelve months. Anti-spam laws have been passed and are being enforced whenever possible. The problems of enforcement have contributed to the rise in the volume of SPAM on the net.

The fact is that while the Internet has brought us great power and benefits, abuses abound, including all kinds of unethical marketing tactics, identity theft, abuse of children, fraud, illegal transfer of resources and information and plagiarism or theft of intellectual property. Of these SPAM, under the topic of unethical marketing techniques, is causing the most problems.

2. Aims

The aims of this research will be threefold:

To discover what the accumulated literature has to say on this subject: how bad is it really, and what has been done about it, and what can we hope to do.

Who is this affecting and how? Where does it come from and why is it a problem, that is, why do spammers spam?

To identify the actual seriousness and possible and probable consequences of the huge mountain of SPAM in email; how much traffic are we talking about (some sources are now saying 90% of all email is SPAM. How much is this costing ISPs and other companies in lost productivity? Who is paying now? Who should pay for the solution?

To research possible solutions to the problem, what they involve and how much will they cost? Who ill pay? What are the legal implications of SPAM and can we really do much legally? What laws are in existence? Are they being enforced?

3. Objectives

The true objective of this research is to become extremely well informed on the problem of SPAM over the Internet. Other methods of spamming will be very briefly looked at and compared to Internet SPAM for origin, motivation, reasons for success or failure, reasons it continues, and consequences and solutions. I would like to discover how and why this became such a huge problem and why it continues. This involves looking at different types of SPAM, how they work and what they do. For example, how can one get SPAM from one's self? Why would anyone use this tactic?

A personally know of many people who have suffered at least lost productivity from SPAM. There are even a few among my acquaintances who have suffered actual financial loss. I know that SPAM has cost me time, which I consider has value.

There are several classes of victims, but I can only discern two classes of beneficiaries of this electronic blight. The victims actually pay to be victimized, though much against their will, and without their expressed permission. It would be good if we could find some way to compensate the victims at the cost of the beneficiaries.

In order to do a good job on this research I need to discover all the various ways SPAM is used, produced and what the eventual aim might be. I need to investigate the origins, methods of proliferation and look closely at possible solutions with their attendant consequences. What solutions have been tried with what results? What more could be done?

I believe this is really an important subject area, as it is nearly crippling the Internet now with the unbelievable traffic load. ISPs do not know what to do, although some have applied limits. Free email may be gone forever soon if we do not solve this problem. Businesses may have to find alternative methods for communication as have many scientific organizations already. Should we look at these? For me, the Internet is a magnificent banquet of information, and while it all needs to be filtered intelligently, it holds many useful resources and has changed the world. I really do not want to see this come crashing down, nor would I like to see it become a resource only for those who can pay high fees.

4. Research Methods

In order to limit the scope of this research, I plan to focus only on email SPAM with a marketing aim. I will describe the other types, because they are also a problem. However, ordinary marketing email SPAM is not totally understood. There are too many people who actually buy things from SPAM, not knowing of the damage it does. And, of course, many if not most, of the spammers do not see it as unethical or they would not do it. They may see only their own profits, and not the damage it does. Some, of course, don't care.

Research on current laws and enforcement and also financial information on costs etc. will also be included.

Research methods will include a broad review of current literature: books, journal articles, new items, Internet articles, magazine articles, usenet discussions and BLOGS. These will be filtered for the relevance of the content and the sources.

Once the relevant information has been collected I will look at other research methods. For example I am certain that there are published surveys, reports and white papers on this subject. Microsoft publishes new on SPAM and its efforts to beat it. I may also try to conduct some valid surveys, especially with major ISPs.

5. Research Design

Research of existing literature will consist of searching library databases, Journal databases, books in print, interactive resources, such as encyclopedias and other collections of information, online sites about the topic and major online publishers, such as ZDNet, CNET, computer magazine publishers, Techie sites like Tech Republic and business sites for information of damage costs etc.

Once the major players, corporations, government departments and ISPs, are identified a brief survey will be created and I will seek ways to get cooperation on filling these in.

I will search law libraries and financial and marketing resources for information on the current laws world wide, and the cost of SPAM to individuals, companies and the global economy.

6. Literature Design

After collecting as much information as possible, I will filter it for relevance and apply the information gained to the questions which need answers, mainly: How much is SPAM costing? Who is paying the cost? What is being done about it? Is that working? Why or why not? What other methods could be used and what are their expected outcomes.

7. Tasks:

1. Review current literature and create an Annotated Bibliography

2. Identify the major companies, government entities (national and international) and ISPs involved.

3. Locate major ISP contacts

4. Review and assess current SPAM laws and their efficacy

5. Research and collate financial information

6. Organize the document format

7. Write the content concerning what all of this means and how important it is.

8. Create and send survey.

9. Analyze collected data

10 Present findings.

11. Credit sources

12 Publish results

8. Project Plan

Timescale: need perhaps 2-3 weeks to search and annotate current literature. Findings from literature will be collected as I go in a database sorted on what portion or what question they answer. It will require at least one week to filter all the data and then design the survey along the lines of unanswered questions, probably those involving stats and financial information. It will require two days to correlate the results of the survey with all the other data. I will need an additional week to make sense of the whole thing, and a few more days to write up conclusions and action plans.

9. References www.spamlaws.comSpam Laws: Articles. http://www.spamlaws.com/… READ MORE

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