The Internet term "spam" does not refer to the famous canned meat product, but rather the posting of the same message to a large number of newsgroups or, more familiarly, the sending of an unsolicited email message to many different, unsuspecting email addresses. The definition of spam has evolved to include all unsolicited email.
In its worst form, spam is sent automatically by software, called email "bombers," to hundreds or possibly many thousands of email addresses, filling those inboxes with junk messages. The people that send the spam are willing to annoy thousands of people in hopes that they will find a couple of people who will buy their product.
