VANCOUVER, British Columbia – May 28, 2002 – Unsolicited email, or "spam", is more than just a nuisance. It costs enterprises in employee productivity, bandwidth and storage. Find out what you can do at the next ActiveState Lecture.

Speakers: Jim Dorey, Gurusamy Sarathy and Dave Sparks, ActiveState

When: June 5, 2002 @ 6:30-7:30 pm

Where: ActiveState HQ, 580 Granville Street

Cost: Free (no registration required)

Jim, Sarathy and Dave will examine the current trends in spam and what the future may hold regarding its impact on the Internet and its users. See the results of our comprehensive spam surveys and learn about the techniques that spammers use. We will explore the application of customized, open language filters (Perl) for powerful text processing needs that are unique for all organizations. Spam characteristics will be examined highlighting targets, sources, types and the victims of spam-some of which may be unsettling to you. The effects of spam such as lost productivity, lost network bandwidth and legal issues will also be illuminated. We will then talk about a few examples of real world, anti-spam applications of technology. Coexisting with the escalation of spam is the development of innovative technology to combat it. We will illustrate a number of exciting initiatives that are gaining momentum in the struggle against spam and how they could be implemented to help facilitate spam's demise.