Consumers are increasingly applying the stigma of spam to marketing messages of all stripes, causing headaches for legitimate advertisers on the Web and beyond.

A meeting reminder from the boss, a lascivious letter from a lover, or the daily tally from a fantasy football league: Which e-mail would you read first?

When Josh Tinnin tried to send e-mail to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission this month, he received an unwelcome surprise: He couldn't.

The Direct Marketing Association has created mandatory ground rules for members sending sales pitches via e-mail, a move designed to help avoid a government crackdown on commercial messages.

Corporate networks are becoming increasingly clogged by e-mail pitches for pornography, money-making schemes and health products, and there's little relief on the horizon.

For Janine Popick, spam is a four-letter word.

Ordinary Web surfers could play a major role in stemming the rising tide of junk e-mail crippling the Net, if a new anti-spam company hits its mark.

A Virginia federal court awarded America Online nearly $7 million in damages as part of the Internet service providers' legal victory over a junk e-mail operation, AOL said Monday.

When Emily Sachar got back from vacation recently, she had an e-mail inbox full of hundreds of messages. Unfortunately, most of them were spam.

Spam hasn't killed enthusiasm for e-mail among U.S. workers, according to a new study on e-mail use in the workplace.