Wow - I haven't read all the replies yet (but I will
)...
Anyway, in the early 90's e-mail SPAM actually started.... I started my first e-mail list discussion in '94 - and recently before that, another list manager had accidentally "copied" all his list users - probably about 200 - 400 folks - with a single unsolicited message. There was an event on DARPA as well, just before that as well...
The name "SPAM" grew out of two common beliefs that it would be pervasive (which it certainly is), and you never know what it really contains until you open it.. Anyway - a favorite TV show (UK) - was Marty Python's Flying Circus and it had a famous clip about SPAM (I'll link it below if I can find it) - so, UBE was "nicknamed" SPAM amongst techies, and the trade press "sealed the deal" (I believe it was Digital Review, now defunct - which did another follow up story to the DARPA UBE and referred to it as "SPAM")...
Anyway...