and sometimes it is.

It is a theft of time, especially if the spammer tries to cleverly make it seem like it is not spam but something important or from someone I know.

Time = money (literally for employees of companies who must sift through spam as part of their work)

Spam = using up people's time unasked for

Therefore, Spam is a crime.

Spam the canned ham company is suing because of the use of the word Spam to refer to junk e-mailings. I'd be cautious if I were you ;) :p

It is a theft of time, especially if the spammer tries to cleverly make it seem like it is not spam but something important or from someone I know.

Time = money (literally for employees of companies who must sift through spam as part of their work)

Spam = using up people's time unasked for

Therefore, Spam is a crime.

You'd have a helluva time proving something like that in a court of law in almost any western nation of the world.

Sorry, but I'm just as annoyed by Spam as you are, but I'm also realistic enough to see that there's not a fuckin' thing we can do about it without limiting the free and legal rights of others.

Baron Max

Spam is one of those "modern" ethical dilemmas because it isn't quite understood for what it really is: a flagrant intrusion into one's private space. This because a private space is not yet something quite understood outside class and privilege.