What EXACTLY is spamming?

Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.”

Is a signature spamming?

Exactly how many copies make a spam?

Would re-phrasing 10 posts be spamming?

Help us understand spamming!

Google's definition of SPAM is pretty clear.

"...irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to large numbers of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc."

Alternatively, if you're hungry SPAM is "...a tinned meat product made mainly from ham."

Spam, in my opinion, is communicating un-solicited message by any means of communication. A signature on a forum is different however as when you choose to utilize the services of the community you opt-in to do so (by creating an account). Unless the person has expressly agreed to receive said communications, they are considered to be spam. Here is a quote from spamhaus.

Definition of SPAM:

An electronic message is "spam" if (A) the recipient's personal identity and context are irrelevant because the message is equally applicable to many other potential recipients; AND (B) the recipient has not verifiably granted deliberate, explicit, and still-revocable permission for it to be sent.

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pam is an issue about consent, not content. Whether the Unsolicited Bulk Email ("UBE") message is an advert, a scam, porn, a begging letter or an offer of a free lunch, the content is irrelevant - if the message was sent unsolicited and in bulk then the message is spam.

Spam is not a sub-set of UBE, it is not "UBE that is also a scam or that doesn't contain an unsubscribe link". All email sent unsolicited and in bulk is Spam.

This distinction is important because legislators spend inordinate amounts of time attempting to regulate the content of spam messages, and in doing so come up against free speech issues, without realizing that the spam issue is solely about the delivery method.

Various jurisdictions have implemented legislation to control what they call "spam". One particular example is US S.877 (CAN-SPAM Act 2004). Each law addresses "spam" in different ways, and as a consequence, often has different definitions of what they cover, whether they call it "spam" or not. Spamhaus uses the industry standard definition "Unsolicited Bulk Email" which underlines that "it's not about content, it's about consent". As such, arguments as to whether Unsolicited Bulk Email messages are covered under CAN-SPAM or are compliant with CAN-SPAM, are entirely irrelevant.

Important facts about Unsolicited Bulk Email:

(1) The sending of Unsolicited Bulk Email ("UBE") is banned by all Internet service providers worldwide.

(2) Spamhaus's anti-spam blocklist, the SBL, used by more than 1 Billion Internet users, is based on the internationally-accepted definition of Spam as "Unsolicited Bulk Email". Therefore anyone sending UBE on the Internet, regardless of whether the content is commercial or not, illegal or not, is a sender of spam - and thus a spammer. All senders of UBE need to be fully aware that (A) they are breaking their ISP's Terms of Business contracts and they will lose their Internet accounts and access if they send UBE and (B) they will be placed on the Spamhaus Block List (SBL) if they send UBE.

credits: http://www.spamhaus.org/consumer/definition/

You learn something new every day here.

@ElixantTechnology, have you detected any form of spamming here on WMS?

How would we go about detecting it?

Really when it comes down to it, spam on a forum is quite easy to detect. Usually a post with a string of links to malicious websites. Or, a flood of posts that the community deems to be inappropriate. There are so many things to consider. Usually a website won't see much spam as long as their is a required registration process. You can usually tell when a BOT is spamming a website. This website has security features put in place that prevent that, so I don't think you really need to worry.

Mainly focus on emails. If you receive an email from a business or person advertising something or in general that you didn't opt-in to receive, immediately report it as spam. Just because you noticed that it was spam, doesn't mean the next person does as well, and the first step towards a safer internet is you taking the initiative to do something about it.

aemathenge said:

Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.”

Is a signature spamming?

Click to expand...

Signature is not a spam, even it will give you more benefit for advertising or SEO ranking if you do it right way.

Too many is spam. But as I just said in another thread I've started veering away from leaving forum links period. I predict an update that is going to slam forums in the search engines. I'd hate to see it but it doesn't look good in the future.

I consider signature as spam if and only if you put it in wrong niche site. In other word if you put your signature in health regarding forum and you are actually optimize it site in this case signature is also a spam.

Is there a way to profit from spamming?

Of course! You can earn a BAN from communities. Isn't it good ?

The reason why there is so much spam is because it is so profitable. A majority of spam directs people to malicious locations, where they can get viruses that hijack their computer and corrupt their data, and if you don't pay the fee to remove the malicious code your data completely corrupts. Sometimes a legitimate product is advertised utilising spam too.

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/thinking-tech/how-email-spammers-really-make-their-money/
https://www.organicweb.com.au/8325/internet/spam-email-profits/