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Phoenix666 writes:

A lighter piece on the performance of the CAN-SPAM anti-spam law:

...while I've accepted that my work inbox is going to be filled with junk, I go to great lengths to keep my private e-mail pristine. I use a personal domain instead of an emailprovider.com address, and the spammers haven't found it. Even my junk folder is empty. It's glorious.

Or at least it was, until I made the mistake of getting something at Best Buy. For a full four weeks, I received one or two e-mails a day from the ubiquitous retail store with subject lines like "4-HOUR SALE: Starts now," "You'd be crazy to pass on this," "Amazing deals end soon," and "Jon, save 15% on ink and toner."
...
It's been four weeks and my Best Buy account still hasn't been deleted. But the e-mails finally stopped, not through the efforts of Precious, Rod, or Helen, but because on June 25 I decided to write this article and contacted Best Buy's public relations team to give them a chance to comment.

I described the situation, mentioned that I had just filed a complaint with the FTC, and asked why it would take even 10 business days to stop spam e-mails or two to four weeks to delete an account.

"These are things that corporations with modern, functioning computer systems should be able to accomplish in seconds," I wrote. "I would be interested in learning the technical details of the system you are using so we can figure out what the problem is."

It's a common tale of woe. The author of TFA only got the spam to stop because of the PR hit he promised to land at Best Buy's feet. CAN-SPAM hasn't stopped them. What can, if you're not a journalist?