n. Unsolicited commercial email messages.
1998
Internet spam has become ubiquitous. Many e-mail users receive more than 10 spam e-mail messages a day, many of them from Cyberpromo, which sends up to 20 million a day.
1994
Internet users suffered another "spam attack" last week, this time from a Florida public-access host user who flooded Usenet conferences with ads for a thigh-reducing cream. Retribution. however, was swift. Administrators at the user's site quickly yanked his account.
1994 (earliest)
The act, while not illegal, violated long-held traditions against random placement of any type of messages on news groups. Such scatter-shot messaging is known as "spamming."
Each Usenet participant pays, either directly or indirectly, for the data he or she receives. In contrast, the cost to spam an advertisement in thousands of news groups, where it is potentially read by hundreds of thousands of computer users, is typically less than $50.
The first advertisement spamming by Mr. Canter and Ms. Siegel resulted in tens of thousands of complaints — even death threats — from Usenet readers. Electronic vandals jammed the law firm's telephone, facsimile and computer systems for days.
Each Usenet participant pays, either directly or indirectly, for the data he or she receives. In contrast, the cost to spam an advertisement in thousands of news groups, where it is potentially read by hundreds of thousands of computer users, is typically less than $50.
The first advertisement spamming by Mr. Canter and Ms. Siegel resulted in tens of thousands of complaints — even death threats — from Usenet readers. Electronic vandals jammed the law firm's telephone, facsimile and computer systems for days.
Spam originally meant "flooding a [Usenet] newsgroup with irrelevant or inappropriate messages" (The Jargon File). This original sense derived from the overuse of the word "spam" in a sketch performed by Monty Python's Flying Circus. The sketch begins as follows:
Mr. Bun: Morning.
Waitress: Morning.
Mr. Bun: Well, what you got?
Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg, sausage
and bacon; egg and spam; egg, bacon and spam; egg,
bacon, sausage and spam; spam, bacon, sausage and
spam; spam, egg, spam, spam, bacon and spam; spam,
sausage, spam, spam, spam, bacon, spam, tomato and
spam; spam, spam, spam, egg and spam; (Vikings start
singing in background) spam, spam, spam, spam, spam,
spam, baked beans, spam, spam, spam and spam…
In recent years, the use of spam expanded to include unsolicited commercial e-mail. In case you don't know, Spam is a luncheon meat consisting of compressed pork shoulder with a bit of ham tossed in. It is produced by Hormel Foods who even have an Official Spam Home Page.
Mr. Bun: Morning.
Waitress: Morning.
Mr. Bun: Well, what you got?
Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg, sausage
and bacon; egg and spam; egg, bacon and spam; egg,
bacon, sausage and spam; spam, bacon, sausage and
spam; spam, egg, spam, spam, bacon and spam; spam,
sausage, spam, spam, spam, bacon, spam, tomato and
spam; spam, spam, spam, egg and spam; (Vikings start
singing in background) spam, spam, spam, spam, spam,
spam, baked beans, spam, spam, spam and spam…
In recent years, the use of spam expanded to include unsolicited commercial e-mail. In case you don't know, Spam is a luncheon meat consisting of compressed pork shoulder with a bit of ham tossed in. It is produced by Hormel Foods who even have an Official Spam Home Page.