Solving the Inbox Paradox: An Information-Based Policy Approach to Unsolicited E-mail Advertising

Derek Bambauer, Brooklyn Law School

Abstract

Everyone hates spam, but some people buy from it. This contradiction highlights the legal policy challenge of unsolicited e-mail advertising—namely, how to preserve its benefits while stanching the deluge of useless messages in users’ inboxes. Spam is a misunderstood phenomenon, and this confusion hampers reform efforts. Fundamentally, spam is an information problem: unsolicited advertising provides value to some Internet users, but it is too often fraudulent, poorly targeted, and offensive. Accordingly, this Article examines spam from an information-based perspective. It elucidates shortcomings of current theoretical and practical approaches to spam’s problems, and then offers a new analytical framework that suggests different methods for reform.