Poland: Europe’s Kingdom of Spam

They click “delete” and perhaps think the problem is resolved.
However, the spam just keeps arriving and increasing, and may include dangerous contents.

What exactly is spam? According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, spam is “irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the Internet to a large number of newsgroups or users.”
There are few listed origins for the word spam. The most suitable may be the Esperanto “senpete alsendita mesago,” which means “message being sent to someone without being asked for.” “Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia” describes “spamming” as the abuse of electronic messaging systems by indiscriminately sending unsolicited bulk messages.

Wikipedia derives “spam” from a Monty Python sketch, set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes Spam, the American luncheon meat.

Spam, a pressed loaf both praised and criticized for its taste, became famous during World War II because it was one of the few meat products not subject to rationing. Electronic spam is very popular among advertisers who have no operating costs beyond the management of their mailing lists, and it is difficult to hold senders accountable for their mass mailings.

The world’s bigger spam producer is the U.S.; Poland is No. 3. And according to the Polish newspaper Dziennik, Poland is Europe’s biggest spam receiver. Poland’s spam explosion can be blamed on carelessness and neglect.

Most Poles have completely forgotten anti-spam protection. The result is that 86 percent of our e-mail is spam.
“Our computers have become an easy target for spam because they are unprotected,” Miroslaw Maj, an Internet web expert, told Dziennik.

Internet users are innocently entering suspicious web sites, downloading games and films which often are just programs used to infect the computer with a virus and to use it afterwards for more spam attacks. Experts emphasize that Internet users can do a lot to protect their computers.

First, they can install anti-virus programs.

They should not give their e-mail address to strangers and they should beware of registering for contests or promotions on web sites that may be dangerous.

They should also avoid corrupted or vulnerable software such as the popular Internet Explorer.

Sending spam is illegal in Poland, so Internet users can defend themselves legally.

The fine currently is 5,000 zloty, and that may be increased to 100,000 zloty.

One should continue the fight with spammers although it is difficult, as most of them keep their servers on small islands where spamming is not against the law.

The result is that more and more spam is being produced in Europe, including Poland.

The number of spam sent by Poles has doubled since last year. Soon we will catch up the U.S. or No. 2 China, although Poland has a much smaller population.

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