Poll: Government Should Can SpamPoll: Government Should Can Spam

Spam is really getting on people's nerves. In fact, according to a new Harris Interactive poll, every demographic and political group favors--by at least 70%--a government ban on spam. On a positive note, though, people are less cranky about the speed at which they can cruise the Internet.

The survey, conducted Nov. 22 to Dec. 2 on 2,221 adult Web surfers, finds that people detest spam by larger numbers than they did in March 2000. Eighty percent of respondents today say they're very irritated by spam, compared with 49% almost three years ago.

Most agree that porn spam is the worst. Nine in 10 find unsolicited sex mailings very annoying. Right behind porn on the hate list are come-ons for mortgages (79%), investments (68%), and real estate (61%).

Those surveyed, though, are less exasperated today with how long they must wait for information to appear on their screens. Just 17% complain about the wait, versus 25% in 2000. And only one in 10 are very annoyed about how long it takes to find a Web site, versus 20% in 2000. Harris thinks the changes reflect improvements in technology and increased sophistication of Internet users.