First Page
127
Abstract
Receiving unsolicited commercial email, also known as "Spam," is like receiving junk mail, postage due. Spam shifts the cost of advertising from the advertiser to the consumer. This imposes enormous costs on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and their customers. The Spam problem cries out for a legislative solution, and that is why I introduced H.R. 2162, the "Can Spam Act." The source of the Spam moniker for unsolicited commercial e-mail is apparently attributed to an annoying song in a Monty Python skit. In the skit, actors dressed like Vikings sing the word "Spam" over and over again, becoming louder and louder throughout the skit, until none of the players can hear each other. Finally, the singing Vikings drown everything out and the skit ends. Unsolicited commercial e-mail is also annoying background noise that is growing louder. The concern is that Spam will finally drown out legitimate e-mail on the Internet.
Recommended Citation
Gary Miller,
How to Can Spam,
2 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law
127
(2020)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw/vol2/iss1/9