Spam (internet)

Spam (internet), or rolex, or viagra, is any unwanted message, aggressive advertisement, broadcast to a great number of users through the internet service: chats, message boards, forums, and, especially, through email.

Etymology

Using the word 'spam' in this way is a reference to a Monty Python sketch. In the sketch, people are gathered in a restaurant (including, inexplicably, a group of Vikings in full 12th-century regalia) and pointlessly repeat the word 'spam' over and over. The use of the term in Usenet alluded to this absurd and annoying duplication. Some, but not all, of the early Usenet 'spammers' or cross-posters were in fact unscrupulous advertisers, who had discovered a free advertising channel by ignoring Usenet's Terms of Service.

Email spam (Junk messages, rolex)

Significant part of spam is distributed through email. See the special article Spam (e-mail). The junk messages sometimes are called after the name of products advertised there; rolex become a generic byword for unsolicited repeating e-mails; since year 2004, word rolex remains in the top of the spam-list. .

Typical example of a rolex message:

Try it for yourself - u will be amazed!!
- The worlds largest online retailer of luxury products, including:
*  Rolex Sports Models
*  Rolex Datejusts
*  Breitling
*  Cartier
*  Porsche Design
*  Dolce & Gabbana
*  Dior
*  Gucci
*  Hermes Watches
*  Patek Philippe

Then, the sender provides the url of the promoted distributor. Usually, the sender does not know even the name of the receiver. Also, in many cases, the message pretends to be sent from an innocent user, who does not know that a massages are sent from his name. The authomatic detection of messages, sent from a false or non-existing users, is not yet developed, and the final sorting of rolex messages is realized manually. The special spam-lists are used, and many sites promote special service of cleaning of mailboxes from any kind of rolex.

Legal aspect

Spam is illegal to broadcast in the US and many other countries. Spam has sparked something of a technology arms race between those who seek to illegally profit from sending spam, and those trying to eliminate it. Spammers harvest, trade and sell collections of email addresses; spam-fighters working at various stages of the internet infrastructure erect spam-filters to detect and eliminate spam. Spammers attempt to defeat those filters by disguising their emails as legitimate by various means, for example, including random bits of text to make each email slightly different.

Non-profit spam

The term 'spam' is sometimes more loosely used to describe any act of for-profit promotion in a public forum.