The statement notes that many illegal chain letters go out of their way to say they are legal. It is relatively easy for someone to send out e-mail to thousands of people, but the university computers then have to process each message. And many people complain when they have to sort through unwanted e-mail. Mr. Peebles says that most of the junk mail in administrators' and professors' mailboxes comes from off-campus users. One company sent more than 100 unsolicited messages to people on the Bloomington campus recently, and the university is considering joining a group that is filing legal complaints against the sender, he says.
Some universities also take steps to block known junk mail before it hits campus e-mail boxes.
Such efforts end up costing universities time and money. Of course, universities aren't alone in facing spam. Almost any company maintaining computer systems faces the same challenges. Copyright 1998, The Chronicle of Higher Education. In fact, we have reports of campus e-mail users receiving both chain letters mentioned above.