Results of 1996 Junk Mail Survey

Online Service and Web Users
Complain Junk Email Wastes Time and Money
© 1996 Janet Attard

Consumer and business users of commercial online services and the World Wide Web are starting to be inundated by junk email. And they aren't happy about it.

In fact, according to results of a junk email survey run by Attard Communications at its Business Know-How(tm) web site August 28-September 10, 1996, two out of three users of online and internet services wish there were laws to prohibit email from being used to send junk mail and chain letters. Furthermore, many of the respondees who didn't want a law to regulate junk email, indicated that they found junk email extremely bothersome, but that they felt that legislation would not be a desirable way to address the problem.

Survey takers were asked two questions:
1) Should there be a law (much like the current fax laws) that would
prevent companies from sending advertisements and other promotional
mailings to anyone with whom they have not previously established a
business relationship?

2) Should it be illegal to rent or sell lists of email addresses compiled
by copying email addresses from postings in newsgroups and message
boards?

Survey takers were also given the chance to add their own comments.

There were 473 individuals out of 738 taking the survey who answered yes to the first question, and 504 who answered yes to the second question.

There were a total of 391 people who took the time to write in their own comments.

The majority of responses complained about junk email, saying it wasted both time and money. Typical were responses like these:

"The problem with junk e-mail is the same as junk fax. It costs the receiver money for the "benefit" of being communicated to."

"How do I stop all the junk e-mail? I spend at least 1/2 hr per day sending "remove" to all the junk e-mailers."

"Please make it stop! I no longer want to join in the BB's or post messages for fear of spending 15 minutes deleting junk mail!"

"Unsolicited EMAIL is more dangerous that unsolicited faxes. Unsolicited faxes can not contain a virus."

Many people who did not want laws against junk email said they were fed up with junk email, but believed there were already "too many laws."

A handful of survey takers, however, seemed to object to the concept of a law because they were using or were planning to use email to send junk mail themselves.

"How would new business or for that sake compatitors [sic] be able to create contact and establish new markets?" asked one responder.

"I do not think it should be regulated any more than regular postal mail. I have a right to contact people via my computer as much as I do to send them a physical letter," said another.

Addendum: As I add this note, it's the beginning of 2006. There's now a federal law (known as the CanSpam Act) and some state laws designed to control spam. But they don't work. Most people's inboxes are even more cluttered now with spam and other undesirable mail than they were 10 years ago.