Spam has grown to such an extent that internet users have started to suffer from lack of confidence in emails as a mode of communication and even the spread of computer virus is another area of disturbance. The first decisive step against bulk unsolicited commercial email was taken in December 2003 when President Bush signed the Can Spam bill against bulk commercial unsolicited emails.

This bill essentially stops all senders of bulk commercial emails which are unsolicited after hiding their real identities by giving false return addresses and using tools like dictionaries to make such mailers. No waylaying subject line and the email must have an opt out provision are two important rules for the sender to follow. The law prevents the sender from accessing addresses from websites and any violation of the law can entail imprisonment up to one year.

Spam from other countries are now larger in quantity and this is a major point of consideration. These emails are harder to fight, because they come from outside our country’s laws and regulations. These problems are difficult to handle, though the laws may sound good since the internet knows no country barriers. Is there any thing you could do for protection? Here are the top tried and tested rules for protection against spam:

Number 1: Avoid displaying your email address on the net at all cost. There are products called ’spam spider’ which is used for scanning the internet for collecting e main addresses to build a mailing list. If you are one of those who wish to go deeper about the subject of ’spam spider’ do a search with those words on the net – the results would leave you awe-struck. There is an interesting counter attack site called WebPoison.org which is an open source project which fights ’spambots’ and ’spam spiders’ effectively because it simply sends them false web pages containing rubbish email addresses.

Number 2: To stop spam from interfering with your life, install a spam blocking software and you could take the help of several programs in this if you visit www.cloudmark.com or www.mailwasher.net. It could be a possibility that you wish to go for a professional version simultaneously but even if you do this, install the software as it could save you many precious hours. The software thought not infallible is capable enough but you might have to do some set up manually to prevent some kinds of email.

Number 3: Start to use more than one email addresses. Having plenty of email addresses could mean that you use them for specific communications and have another few as back ups. It would be like giving your cell phone number to your best friends and the business number to everyone else.

Number 4: A common problem with spam is that they have attachments and attachments can have viruses. Spammers find it difficult to reach you through companies as they use filters to block such mail. Try looking at Firewall vendors for such services.

Number 5: These days email services can be had with the facility of ‘bulk mail’ baskets. In case your existing service provider does not support this concept, try to switch to another vendor. All you have to do is to collect such mails and put then in a bulk email pile and ‘choose’ to let them dwell in your circle. Any spam blocking software would also run with the same principles but there is nothing like having a couple of extra precautions – so it is worth looking into.