So, spam legislation does not outlaw spam. Surprised? Dissapointed? If you are a heavy internet user, you're certainly dissapointed. Maybe not yet surprised, as this is not the first time when a legislation act fails to represent those who pay for the ability to work in a equitable system (and even for the laws to be released). And we believe that the Can Spam Act partially fails to represent legitimate internet users in the problem of spam.

Having that as a fact, what can you do? For sure you can use some of the following tips to became less spammed:

• Mask your email address. When you participate in discussion lists or forums, you want to be able to publish your email address. The first thing you can do is write it in a form that an email harvesting software can't read it as what it really is. E.g. you won't write yourname@domain.com but Yourname(at)domain(dot)com, or other form you know it can be interpreted by a real person.
• In chat rooms, use other screen name than your email ID.
• Keep separate addresses for business emails and personal ones. When you register to a discussion list you can use a disposable address, which you can abandon when you are no longer interested in the subject.
• Choose user names that are not easy to generate by automated programs (e.g. combinations of letters and numbers.)
• Don't reply by an opt-out request to messages that don't follow the basic rules of mass email campaigns, as they are specified in the spam law. (See details about Can Spam Law).
• Always read the 'Terms of Agreement' pages before subscribing to newsletters or other forms of email advertising. You may not agree with them afterall.
• Do not open messages that are obviously spam. They are usually sent in HTML format, and the sender can track addresses who open the email. That validates your address in their list.
• Opt-in for the text version of the newsletters instead of HTML, when possible.
• Do not use autoresponders, as they validate the existance of your email address.
• Use an auto-preview option to check emails before actually downloading them.
• Use an antivirus program that is set to update daily.
• Use spam filters provided by your email client.
• Report spam when you receive it.