Fundmentally, this makes spam on IM a much more tractably-solveable problem than spam on email.

ENGADGET: Interview with David E. Weekly, Founder of Coceve and www.IMsmarter.com

In 2003, Congress solved the problem of spam email with the CAN-SPAM Act, which authorized Federal Trade Commission lawsuits against chronic spammers.

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On the network side IPS is analogous to anti-virus for email and DDoS defense is analogous to anti-spam.

FORBES: Clean That Network Traffic

Social spam is growing as attacks launched via traditional email come-ons appear to be declining.

WSJ: Spam Finds a New Target

Some free email services like Gmail already come equipped with powerful anti-spam and virus filters.

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Just 44% of marketers surveyed believe their organizations were in compliance with the CAN-SPAM act, a law that requires marketers to request permission to send email messages, disclose the messages' source and offer an opt-out function.

FORBES: What Privacy Policy?

Try counting sometime the number of commercial messages you encounter in just a few minutes of internet surfing or sifting through your email everything from Google ads to banners, flash videos, email blasts, spam that slips through your filter, and e-newsletters you now regret signing up for.

FORBES: Can You Hear Me Now? Web-Enabled Brand Experiences That Cut Through The Clutter