By now you're probably wondering if there's any reasonable alternative. There are two parts needed for a good solution to the spam problem.

1. Senders must be required to send email only to people who have opted into receiving advertisements.
   
   
2. Rules need to be enforced by spam recipients, not by an overworked and underfunded government agency or an ISP that would rather spend hard-earned money on a new server than on legal fees.

How to realize these alternatives

Ways to achieve the first part range from compliance audits to automated preferences systems. One of the simplest methods, and also one of the easiest to comply with, is the SMTP banner system. In this system, when a mail transaction starts, the recipient's mail server indicates, via the SMTP banner message, whether it will accept spam.

If the banner says "no," then no unsolicited ads are allowed. Simple, easy to set up, and easy for senders to check, SMTP banners are one of the most straightforward ways for recipients to protect themselves. Senders in turn do not have to undertake complex accounting measures before they can send a single message.

The second part -- recipient enforcement -- takes as its model the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, also known as the "junk fax law." The junk fax law allows recipients of unsolicited fax ads to sue the senders for $500 per incident. While a few scofflaw businesses operate in the junk fax arena, for the most part advertisements by fax are not a significant problem.

What can you do about spam?

• Join the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email -- CAUCE.
  
  
• Call or write your congressional representatives and tell them CAUCE speaks for you when it comes to spam.
  
  
• Never, ever, ever do business with anyone who sends you spam.