Sadly, spam is again on the rise. The low cost of generating spam and the absence of meaningful penalties against spammers drives the equation. In fact, spammers no longer receive any type of negative backlash when caught. Netsters just shrug this off. Sadly, I sense an attitude that fighting is considered futile.
All parties seem to have given up the good fight.
While visitors are offered assurances of privacy, frankly, many revenue challenged sites ignore these promises when faced with hemorrhaging cash flows. On the other side, spammers continue to hone their skills. Essentially, the best we can do is slow down the onslaught. Spammers cannot be stopped. This serves the purpose of providing a 'dummy address' shielding the user's primary e-mail address.