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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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6

Energy-Wasting Spam Also a Pain in the Earth

It hurts environment and productivity, authors say

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(Newser) – Spam e-mails consume 20% of companies' energy budgets, enough collectively to run 2.4 million houses, says a study commissioned by the security firm McAfee. Most of the waste results from end users sifting through the 62 trillion junk items sent annually, eWeek reports. Eliminating spam would be the equivalent of taking one car off the road for each 200 employees in a 1,000-person company, according to the report..

The energy saved through spam filtering is equivalent to taking 2.3 million cars off roads, the study found.
The energy saved through spam filtering is equivalent to taking 2.3 million cars off roads, the study found.   (Shutter stock)
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They are criminals who are all about making money. - Dave Marcus of McAfee,
on whether spammers
care about the waste

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6 comments
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MrVincent
Apr 15, 09 4:12 PM CDT
SERIOUS! Let's not be ostriches with our heads stuck in the sand on this one. Spam is an American shame. Legislators need to act now! Can you say "Easter Island"? "Aztecs"? "Amazon"? Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
gregconquest
Apr 15, 09 4:48 PM CDT
This may require more than just legislation. ISP's should be facilitated by legislators to come up with validated email/encryption tests/or something technical and voluntary. Then this mass of ISP's can be given the legislative approval to cut off those ISP's who abuse the system. Problem solved, and no one's rights to free speech will be crushed.
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tommy
Apr 15, 09 8:51 PM CDT
Simple solution. Charge to send Email! Reply
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TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 15, 09 10:05 PM CDT
Be careful what you ask for... Reply
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Michael_CT
Apr 16, 09 2:09 AM CDT
spammers deserve the death penalty. Reply
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