Don't Hit the Monkey! (You'll get spammed)

A few months ago I signed up for one of those free web mail accounts with a major provider.

Since I didn't plan on using the account for much - I decided to punch the monkey. You know what I'm talking about - those ads which claim "punch the monkey" or knock-out the boxer, and you can get a free (insert item here).

So I played along - they asked me my email address, and a bunch of survey questions. I forget what the prize was - and apparently so did they.

At the end of the questions - there was no mention of the prize.

Now, that account gets about 40 pieces of spam / day. Punch the monkey, get spam.

Surprisingly, the web mail provider's junk mail blocker seems to catch a good chunk of it.

There are a couple other places I dropped that email address - so I can't say it's 100% the monkey's fault. I suspect the vast majority of it is though.

Most of the messages seem to be from the same network. They are all of similar style and content.

I'm sure someplace in the fine print - I agreed to get spammed. I probably even agreed that they could sell my email address to other senders of junk email.

After users find themselves in this kind of trap, they really only have two options. They can either ditch the mail address. Or, they can install spam email blocker software to help minimize the problem.

This highlights why it's so difficult to have meaningful spam fighting laws. If a lot of spam is ultimately consensual - it will be difficult to regulate. I have trouble believing that they could pass a law forbidding companies from sending email to those who ask them to.

SpamButcher can be used to block email in outlook, can be used as an eudora spam filter or used with most other email clients.

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