KEY POINTS:
The forum for internet provider Slingshot's iTalk service is usually a place for customers of the internet telephony service to get friendly advice and have their technical queries answered by other users.
But these days they are more likely to be confronted with advertisements for hardcore porn and dodgy pharmaceuticals. That's because the italk forum has become a haven for "forum spam".
If you haven't come across forum spam, Wikipedia describes it as: "automated programs designed to register on forums, disseminate spam, and leave. They usually supply a fake name, freebase email address, and sometimes mask their true IP address."
Forum spam joins comment spam (posted automatically in the comments section of blogs), picture spam (embedded in pictures to try and avoid spam filters) and just good old spam in spreading innane junk advertising around the world.
So click on an innocent link to learn how to fix your iTalk phone and you're more likely to come across "Mel Gibson spanking" or "Katie Holmes touching her boobs".
iTalk users are up in arms.
"There is getting to be a lot of spam in the forums again. It is really not nice when you are trying to discuss technical information," writes one.
Another suggests the users start policing the forum themselves.
"OK, so perhaps everyone at Slingshot are busy, that's cool. Maybe some trusted volunteers in the user base that won't be tempted to delete enemies' postings in a flame war could volunteer to do this?"
Slingshot needs to act on behalf of its customers and clean up the iTalk forum. After all, Mel Gibson spanking, that's something no one should ever have to see!
