Where's the Beef? Dissecting Spam's Purported Harms

18 Pages Posted: 19 Jan 2004

See all articles by Eric Goldman

Eric Goldman

Santa Clara University - School of Law

Abstract

Virtually everyone seems to agree that spam causes tremendous harm, but there is surprisingly little consensus on exactly what those harms are. This Essay examines various harms that spam purportedly causes to assess if the harm is real and if spam is treated dichotomously compared to other media communications. Based on this analysis, the Essay concludes that many harms purportedly caused by spam are not appropriate policy justifications for regulation.

Keywords: Spam, email, CAN-SPAM, junk mail, junk faxes, telemarketing

JEL Classification: L82, L96, K42

Suggested Citation

Goldman, Eric, Where's the Beef? Dissecting Spam's Purported Harms. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=487162

Eric Goldman (Contact Author)

Santa Clara University - School of Law ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
United States
408-554-4369 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ericgoldman.org

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