In simple terms, spam (a.k.a. unsolicited commercial email, unsolicited bulk email, mass email, junk email) is defined as a message that advertises goods or services that you send to someone without their prior consent or in the absence of a previous relationship.

Spam includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Email messages that are addressed to a recipient with whom the sender does not have an existing business or personal relationship with.

Messages posted on Usenet and message boards, which are unrelated to the topic of discussion, unrelated newsgroups or sent/posted excessively.

Solicitations posted on chat rooms, or to groups or individuals by an instant messaging system such as ICQ.