While everyone comments on the technical difficulties of stopping Spam, what nobody seems to realize is this: every piece of Spam contains contact information for the person who benefits from it. If it did not, it would be useless as Spam. Every single putrid "Mortgage rates have never been lower!" contains contact information for a mortgage broker that authorized, and paid for, that piece of Internet Pollution.
If we ever have the courage to make such Spams truly illegal, then real, honest-to-Gawd legal action can be taken against every so-called "business" that stoops this low. Their only legitimate defense would be, "Gosh, we didn't pay for that! Somebody sent out that ad promoting us that without our knowledge or authorization!" And when the DA subpoenas the books and the bank account for that spammer scum, you've got them for perjury, as well as spamming.
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If we ever have the courage to make such Spams truly illegal, then real, honest-to-Gawd legal action can be taken against every so-called "business" that stoops this low. Their only legitimate defense would be, "Gosh, we didn't pay for that! Somebody sent out that ad promoting us that without our knowledge or authorization!" And when the DA subpoenas the books and the bank account for that spammer scum, you've got them for perjury, as well as spamming.