The Economics of Spam
| Autor: | David Reiley, Justin M. Rao |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
Economics and Econometrics
Mechanical Engineering InformationSystems_INFORMATIONSYSTEMSAPPLICATIONS Botnet Energy Engineering and Power Technology Advertising Context (language use) ComputingMilieux_LEGALASPECTSOFCOMPUTING jel:L81 Management Science and Operations Research Spamming jel:L11 Market structure jel:L86 Spambot Order (exchange) Economics Revenue ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDSOCIETY Externality |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Economic Perspectives. 26:87-110 |
| DOI: | 10.1257/jep.26.3.87 |
| Popis: | We estimate that American firms and consumers experience costs of almost $20 billion annually due to spam. Our figure is more conservative than the $50 billion figure often cited by other authors, and we also note that the figure would be much higher if it were not for private investment in anti-spam technology by firms, which we detail further on. Based on the work of crafty computer scientists who have infiltrated and monitored spammers' activity, we estimate that spammers and spam-advertised merchants collect gross worldwide revenues on the order of $200 million per year. Thus, the “externality ratio” of external costs to internal benefits for spam is around 100:1. In this paper, we start by describing the history of the market for spam, highlighting the strategic cat-and-mouse game between spammers and email providers. We discuss how the market structure for spamming has evolved from a diffuse network of independent spammers running their own online stores to a highly specialized industry featuring a well-organized network of merchants, spam distributors (botnets), and spammers (or “advertisers”). We then put the spam market's externality ratio of 100 into context by comparing it to other activities with negative externalities. Lastly, we evaluate various policy proposals designed to solve the spam problem, cautioning that these proposals may err in assuming away the spammers' ability to adapt. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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