Fed up with all the junk in your inbox each day? Spam, also known as "unsolicited commercial e-mail," now represents between 40% to 50% of all e-mail on the Internet.

You can take steps to cut back on the porn and other junk e-mail you get, but there's no way to get rid of it entirely. "There is no good mechanical solution to eliminate spam. If there was, we'd all be using it," says John R. Levine, a board member of the anti-spam group CAUCE (Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Washington is currently attempting to establish a state law against spam, but the legal aspects are under scrutiny. In addition, there are currently no federal laws against spam. Due to the money involved, even though spamming is not illegal, it would exist even if it was.

Here are some tips to help you reduce the amount of spam:

Use one of the e-mail filtering and management services available on the Internet. Nothing will clean 100% of junk mail, but these tools can help you fight spam.

• MailWasher Pro. A shareware e-mail checker that can help eliminate spam and viruses before you actually download them. This one is our current favorite - it's also useful for cleaning large messages out of your inbox when the relatives have sent you the latest vacation photos in one large e-mail. MailWasher Pro can check standard POP3 accounts, as well as Hotmail boxes.

• ChoiceMail is somewhat of a reverse filtering program. The way this software works is that incoming messages are checked against a whitelist and new senders are offered a choice to "register" with you in order to prove that they are legitimate senders. Right now it's retailing for $29.95. This one looks promising, but you'll want to check to make sure it won't have issues with your anti-virus program.

• SpamNet. This is a free accessory for Outlook 2000 and Outlook XP users that enables you to participate in a Vipul's Razor based blacklist. This allows you to identify spam messages and have them added to a shared database which other users can access - the more people that participate, the more accurate the spam blocking.

• ePrompter. Another free service that enables you to see e-mail headers from multiple accounts before the messages hit your inboxes, so you can kill it for good in advance. While this software also works for AOL and web-based email accounts (such as Yahoo or Excite), some people have been displeased with the ads it displays.

• Spam Buster, from Contact Plus. This software, which costs $19.95 to register, has been mentioned in Time and given favorable reviews with PC Magazine.

• Spamex. For $19.95 (yearly), you get disposable e-mail addresses that forward messages to your real e-mail address, which you keep hidden.

• SpamCop. A spam reporting and filtering service, with filtered mailboxes available for $30/year. They also have a free spam reporting service which blocks your e-mail address from appearing in the complaint.

Use the power of your e-mail program. Standard e-mail programs such as Microsoft Outlook and Eudora enable you to filter out recurring messages by setting up rules to block some spam messages and/or divert them into "junk mail" folders. It's usually best to do the latter, especially until you're comfortable with the way your e-mail program handles filtering.

The problem here is spammers rarely use the same return e-mail address more than once. Even the subject line will vary from incident to incident. However, quite often the message body is boilerplate ad copy - using a rule that targets an actual phrase or sentence can make your mail program help you put a dent in the amount of spam that gets to your inbox.

Setting up E-mail Filters - here are some walkthroughs to guide you in setting up filtering within your e-mail program.

Beware HTML encoding. HTML formatted mail allows for fonts and pretty backgrounds, but it also can be used to redirect you to a site without your knowledge, set cookies, and track how effective a spammers bulk mailing attempts have been. We usually suggest setting your mail program to use Plain Text format.

Firetrust (the folks who make MailWasher Pro) have another product called Benign. Benign is a program specifically designed to filter harmful HTML content. It fully decodes the e-mail, removes anything dangerous or malicious, and then rewrites the e-mail in such a way as to guarantee that it will be interpreted by the your mail program as it should be

Avoid publicizing your e-mail address. The more your e-mail address is seen on Internet bulletin boards and in newsgroups, chat rooms and the like, the more you will be spammed.

Have one e-mail address that you keep tightly controlled; give it only to close friends and business associates. Have another that you use more publicly, and for bulletin boards and newsgroups. You will get more spam there, but you can check this inbox less frequently and at least feel like you are keeping spammers from invading your personal mailbox.

"Unsubscribe" at your own risk. Should you click on the "unsubscribe" or "remove" links to get off mailing lists? Do so only for messages from companies or organizations that you recognize and trust.

One of the spammers' nasty tricks is to get you to "unsubscribe" so they can validate your e-mail address. If you respond, they've connected; you are a real person. They can add your e-mail address to a list that they will use or sell. On the other hand, a company you know and trust may inadvertently spam you due to inept e-mail management. By responding, you've done them a service. So, if you don't recognize the sender, you probably shouldn't "unsubscribe."

Finally, if you want more info, here's our Setting up Seanet Email and Spam Filtering