Internet users overwhelmingly favor anti-spam legislation currently pending in Congress, according to poll results from Web and e-mail filtering vendor SurfControl, released this week.

Respondents also said that the number of spam messages received weekly has increased 21 percent since January.

The survey also sought to map out the Internet community's definition of spam. More than half of respondents, or 54 percent, said unsolicited mass e-mail from a company the recipient done business with in the past is not spam.

Unsolicited mass e-mail that is deceptive in its subject line was categorized as spam by 93 percent of respondents.

Unsolicited mass e-mail, even if it comes from a legitimate or well-branded business, was categorized as spam by 82 percent of respondents.

Even unsolicited mass e-mail on subjects or offers that interest the receiver was categorized as spam by 78 percent of respondents.

"The definition of spam is black and white for people working in offices across the country," said Susan Getgood a senior vice president at SurfControl, who commissioned the survey. "E-mail from commercial strangers is spam. E-mail from companies you have done business with in the past is not," she said in a statement.

The survey was conducted for SurfControl by Public Opinion Strategies, a political and public affairs research firm.

An overwhelming majority of business users, 86 percent, say they favor legislation currently pending in Congress that would outlaw spam that hides the identity of the sender or misleads the recipient about the contents of the e-mail. The bill, S-877 CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, was introduced last month by Sens. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Some 85 percent of respondents say they would support their company using technology to control spam.