The difference between spam and desired e-mail is whether the user has previously transacted business with the sender.

While the panelists at the Federal Trade Commission's Spam Forum argue this week over just what, exactly, should be considered as spam, a new survey shows American business e-mail users have no such quibbles: the difference between spam and desired e-mail is whether the user has previously transacted business with the sender. The survey, conducted by political and public affairs research firm Public Opinion Strategies for SurfControl, a Web and e-mail filtering firm, shows 54 percent of respondents said that unsolicited mass e-mail from a company they've done business with in the past is not spam. Everything else tested in the poll was considered spam. An overwhelming majority of business users (86 percent), also say they favor legislation sponsored by Senators Conrad Burns and Ron Wyden that would outlaw spam that hides the identity of the sender or misleads the recipient on the content of the e-mail. In addition to supporting the legislation, more than eight out of ten, 85 percent, say they would support their company using technology to control spam. Even among the small percentage of people who oppose a federal anti-spam law, 77 percent say they support using anti-spam technology at their company.