There are many things concerning the internet that are decidedly not amusing. The internet can be a source of viruses and other forms of malware, which affect computers worldwide. It can provide refuge for the sick and perverted, who use the depths and anonymity of the internet to distribute material that goes beyond any imagination. It can also be a hotbed for other dangerous activities like crime and terrorism. However, I think I speak for many when I say that spam is the one thing that bothers us all on a continuous basis.
It was 3 May, 1978. Gary Thuerk, sales rep at the Digital Equipment, corp. (DEC), was hard at work promoting the company's latest computers, which were installed in open houses in Los Angeles and San Mateo, on the Pacific coast of the United States. Thuerk wanted to promote the computers among the scientists on the ARPAnet, the predecessor of today's internet, as the new machines in the DECSYSTEM-20 line (the machines in question) and the TOPS-20 operating system had support for ARPAnet built-in. Thuerk, however, did not feel like sending 600 individual email messages to all the people on the ARPAnet, so he had a brainwave: why not send the same message to all of them? At once?
Carl Gartley, engineer at DEC during those times, was burdened with writing the actual message - as well as manually typing in the 600 email addresses. Since the system could only handle 320 recipients, the remainder of the addresses flowed through into the actual message. The message was resent to those addresses. Written in all caps (...) the first spam message read as follows:
DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T. THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 [PDP-10] COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE. BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T AND 2020T OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM. THE DECSYSTEM-2060 IS AN UPWARD EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT DECSYSTEM 2040 AND 2050 FAMILY. THE DECSYSTEM-2020 IS A NEW LOW END MEMBER OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AND FULLY SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OF THE OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 MODELS.
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