Update, 2002-07-25:
Now available: The Spamdemic Map Poster

You asked for it... By popular demand, we present the first-edition Spamdemic Map Poster. Printed on a sheet of 35"x23" heavy semi-gloss stock, with all the details you long to tack up on your wall and throw darts at. To buy your copy and help fund hosting for the Clueless Mailers site, just click here!

Preview Image
Full-Size Version, GIF, Lower Quality (NEW 460K)
Full-Size Version, GIF, Full Quality (NEW 767K)
Full-Size Version, PNG, Full Quality (NEW 676K)
For printing:
Spamdemic.eps (.zip, 380K)
Spamdemic.eps (.sit, 320K)

Or, to help keep down the escalating costs of the site's newfound popularity, you might consider using one of the mirror sites that some extremely cool and generous people have set up — without even being asked. Thanks to all of you! (And if you want me to remove the link from this page, just let me know...)

Keep in mind that these mirrors exist at the pleasure of their creators, and may disappear at any time...

MIRROR HOSTS: Please note that there are now smaller images available, which may save you some bandwidth!

SPAMDEMIC MAP MIRROR SITES:

The complete HTML page:
http://www.cetan.com/mirrors/spammap.html
http://www.perljam.net/misc/www.cluelessmailers.org/spamdemic/mapfullsize.html

Just the monstrous hulking .GIF:
http://www.fabiolrs.hpg.ig.com.br/spamdemicmap.gif
http://dfs.us/blowfly/spamdemicmap.gif

(NOTE: The downloadable EPS version requires that the Helvetica font or an equivalent substitute be installed on your system.)

It's long been known that spammers sell victims' addresses to each other. Keep that in mind as you look at the map... and remember that — despite their cries of "Permission Marketing Works!" — I have not given my email address to a single one of the companies that appear on the Spamdemic Map, nor have I given them permission to send me email... yet nearly all of them seem to have one or more of my addresses, and most are spamming me. Items in black on the map indicate entities that have spammed me or are involved in supporting the spammer; grey indicates companies that haven't spammed me, but may now have my address, due to their relationships with the spammers; green indicates ownership; dashed lines indicate tentative connections. First, take a gander at the Preview Image. Then brace yourself, and step into the Full-Size Version. (Don't forget your waders.) I'll soon have a more in-depth explanation of what's going on... I also hope to try to track the actual flow of each of the spammed addresses amongst the spamhausen. But right now, I need some sleep. Have fun... and don't say I didn't warn you! BTW— Due to popular demand, I've made the Spamdemic Map available as an EPS file for the sake of printing (see links above). The map measures about 62" x 41", with the smallest type at 8.8pt. If enough requests come in, I may consider selling prints, since few people are able to print at or even near that size. Have fun!

UPDATE 3/25/2002 — For the moment, I've removed the few "person" blocks that were on the Map. It was pointed out to me by one of those individuals that having so few names on the Map seemed to call extra attention to them. On the other hand, some individuals' names will remain on the Map if they are sole proprietors, domain owners or well-established spammers. When and if I gather a broader, more complete list of individuals who are connected to the companies on the Map, I'll put them all on at once. Please also read the newly-published Inclusion Criteria:

INCLUSION CRITERIA (added 3/24/2002) — Please note that criteria for inclusion on the Spamdemic Map are extremely broad... Domains, companies and even individuals are included there that have not spammed me. In fact, to my knowledge, many of them haven't spammed anyone.

The purpose of the Spamdemic map is to show not only actual spammers' relationships, but also relationships among spammers and other entities — legitimate or otherwise — and to illustrate the *potential* for abuse that can arise when and if irresponsible policies are followed — as when addresses are shared among mailers/marketers without the recipient's knowledge/permission, or when permission for mailing is not actually obtained through closed-loop opt-in confirmation.

This means that inclusion on the Spamdemic Map does not indicate or imply anything about the included entities except for what is specifically noted there, e.g. "shares addresses with", "is a marketing partner of", "formerly at", etc. Since large and (currently) non-spamming companies like AOL Time Warner, CNNSI, Travelocity and USAToday are also on the Map, inclusion doesn't necessarily mean an included entity is a "black hat" — and it puts them in with some darned good company, even if some of the other occupants aren't very appealing. <g>

In short, any entity that is connected, either directly or indirectly through ownership, affiliation, marketing partnerships and agreements, provision of Internet services, etc., with an entity that has spammed me, is eligible for inclusion on the Spamdemic Map. This is not an all-inclusive list, and the criteria may change at any time.

So, to sum up, inclusion on the Spamdemic Map is not a smear or an attack or even an implication of "guilt by association"... It's simply one small part of the overall concept of wide-scale general connectivity, and serves as a reminder to the marketing community to stay vigilant and to be sensitive to the need to protect recipients' personally-identifiable information.

I just thought you'd like to hear that. <g> —Bob

UPDATE 2/27/02: All I have to say is... Oy.

The Spamdemic Map is becoming a monster. The new version 3.0 is bulging at the seams with new connections, new domains, new spammers. What's really interesting is how often a few extremely active mailers are pointed to by new advertisers and marketers. And if you thought the previous version of the map had some big corporate names in it, get a load of this one.

I'm currently trying to collect WHOIS data for every domain on the map... privacy policies will be next. Even now, I already have enough information and enough new spams to create a whole new version 4.0.

But the next version may be completely redesigned. Since the map is becoming so physically large, it's hard to navigate it or find spammers that may be hitting you. So in the next version, I'm going to try to establish some sort of hierarchy or pyramid structure that places marketers on one level, mailers on another, and advertisers on a third. Or something like that.

I also have this vague yet grandiose idea squirming around in the back of my brain... An idea that says "Flash! Build the map using Flash, and automate the user's navigation!"

Hopefully, the manic-depression drugs will kick in soon, and those evil thoughts of Flash will go the way of all flesh. <g>

UPDATE 1/19/02: More connections, lots of ownership research, and version 2.0 of the map is more frightening than than the first. It's pretty convoluted, so I'm going to try to rearrange v3.0 for more clarity. I've also got a preliminary map of address-sharing, which shows which companies and sites are passing your address off to each other.

The network marketers aren't the only ones guilty of revealing your personal information. Publicly-available Web documents including privacy policies and lists of "marketing partners" show that once your address is harvested against your will and introduced into the "system", you're stuck with spam for life.

Bounties paid for submitted — and unconfirmed — email addresses are encouraging abuse, and the spiderweb of spammers grows as more sleazoid pimps discover they can resell the addresses found on a "Millions" CD at $.05 a pop, or more.

Dive into the map and find out what evil regions your email address is wandering off to...

...Bob
January 19, 2002