Spam: The Documentary (2006)

Gary Thuerk was the world's first e-mail spammer.[1] On May 3, 1978, Carl Gartley, on Thuerk's behalf, sent out the first spam over the network of government and university computers known as the ARPAnet.[2] A marketing manager for Digital Equipment Corporation, he wanted to publicize open houses in Los Angeles and San Mateo where the company's latest computers would be unveiled.

Several thousand people were on the ARPAnet then, most of them computer scientists. Thuerk wanted to send all 600[3] ARPAnet members on the West Coast of the US an e-mail invitation. He decided it was too much work to send everyone a single e-mail, which was the standard practice at the time, so he decided to send one e-mail to everyone. The reaction from the net community was fiercely negative, but Thuerk's spam did generate some sales. Thuerk was interviewed on CBC Television's SPAM: The Documentary.[4]