Spammers should be given prison sentences under the CAN SPAM Act

Receiving spam emails is one of the most ubiquitous experiences for anyone who uses the internet today. In 2003, the US Congress enacted the CAN SPAM Act which aimed to regulate the sending of unsolicited emails. In new research, Alex Kigerl looks at the effectiveness of the CAN SPAM Act using a sample of 5.5 million messages sent over a 15-year period. He finds that the Act has served as a deterrent to spammers, but only through detention, not fines, since many spammers have considerable incomes and can afford to pay them. He argues that if we wish to reduce the amount of spam we get, then we must increase enforcement and prosecutions, and imprison spammers for long enough for them to be deterred from sending further spam.