McAfee to serve up (anti) spam on July 4th

Ratcheting up the rhetoric in the war on unsolicited "spam" e-mail, Network Associates said Friday that it was declaring the U.S. Independence Day holiday "Independence from Spam Day" and will give out free copies of its McAfee SpamKiller product online and in retail stores on July 4.

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The first 1,776 visitors to www.mcafee.com will receive a free copy of SpamKiller on the holiday. Network Associates will also distribute free copies of the software to the first 20 visitors to each of 922 OfficeMax retail outlets in the U.S., the company said.

The announcement was part of a coordinated marketing effort by Network Associates that included the release of a survey showing the frequency of spam management edging out other popular leisure activities such as exercise, reading to children, and sex.

In June, Network Associates surveyed more than 1,500 online participants and found that around half spend more than 40 minutes a week deleting spam, according to a statement.

Pornography topped the list of spam e-mail topics, with mortgage refinancing, credit counseling and sexual enhancement products other popular themes, the company said.