A system analysis of the spam problem

This thesis considers the problem of the large amount of unwanted email that is being sent and received, which lowers the aggregate value of email as a communication medium from what it would otherwise be. This problem is commonly known as the "spam problem." Solutions to the spam problem involve curbing the adverse affects of existing technology as well as steering technology development in a socially beneficial direction. Unlike some other technology and policy problems, the reasons for the existence of this problem are well known and the desired effects of ideal solutions can be readily articulated. However, attempted solutions to date have not made much progress at solving the problem. I posit that this failure stems from the fact the spam problem is really a complex system, and that solutions to date have not been designed to interact with this system in a useful manner. I show that the spam problem is a complex system, and should be dealt with by developing strategies to holistically interact with it. Such strategies must embrace both technical and legal realities simultaneously in order to be successful. They must also avoid causing negative side effects that negate their purpose. First, I build a model of the system surrounding the spam problem in the form of a Causal Loop Diagram. This diagram shows the causal interactions between the various technical, legal, social, and economic forces that are present in the spam system. Using this diagram, I then identify a number of places that solutions could interact with this system. These places comprise a set of possible levers that could be pulled to alleviate the spam problem. This set of levers is then used to make sense of the attempted and suggested solutions to date.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Weinberg, Gabriel R. (Gabriel Reiter)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sharon Eisner Gillett and David Clark.

• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32286

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32286