What I have also noticed is that the spelling and grammar of the spam has deteriorated. This suggests to me that the ways and means of sending out spam have become very widely available to individuals and not just to commercial ventures. Spam messages offering the ability to "send out millions of free advertisements daily" have been arriving for some time. In fact the amount of spam which I personally receive has been drastically cut because I use an effective filter on hotmail only taking messages from people in my address book.

From: Laura Gurak <gurakl@umn.edu> To: AIR List <air-l@aoir.org> Subject: [Air-l] increase in spam... Reply-To: air-l@aoir.org

Has anyone else noticed a sudden increase in the amount of porn-type spam they are getting? At least six people, including one journalist, have been asking me what's up. I've heard from both academics and folks in the private sector, and all seem to indicate a sudden (past 5-7 days) rise in this stuff. I personally have noticed it as well. Anyone know what's going on?

---------------- Laura J. Gurak, Ph.D. Associate Professor Rhetoric Department, University of Minnesota 1994 Buford Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108 v 612-624-3773 also--Director, Internet Studies Center -- www.isc.umn.edu Faculty Fellow, Law School gurakL@tc.umn.edu http://www.rhetoric.umn.edu/faculty/LGurak/

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