Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:48:41 -0700 From: "NewsScan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Get ready for SPIM
Instant messenger spam, dubbed "spim," is increasingly clogging users' computers, popping up with the real-time regularity of instant messages and annoying users who complain they're now receiving several messages a day. Users can either accept or decline the spim, which often contains a link to -- what else? -- a pornography site. Ferris Research estimates about 500 million spim messages were sent in 2003, double the number sent in the previous year. And while instant-messenger spam "isn't nearly the industry that e-mail spam is, it's starting to increase," says the CEO of an antispam consulting firm. Experts warn that the recent crackdown on conventional spam may push illicit marketers to explore new avenues, including instant messaging. "The irony is that focusing like a laser on our No. 1 concern -- spam -- has painted e-mail spammers into a corner like never before and incited them to find other ways to try and reach our membership online," says an AOL spokesman. [*Wall Street Journal*, 31 Dec 2003; NewsScan Daily, 31 Dec 2003] http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107228175621944800,00.html (sub req'd)
------------------------------------- You are subscribed as [EMAIL PROTECTED] To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
