Spammers claim the right to distribute unsolicited bulk mail as part of their right to free speech under the United States Constitution. After one such person repeatedly misspelled it as “frea speach”, newsgroup participants who argued that the right to free speech refers to the right to not be censored by the U.S. government and nothing to do with the right to employ the services of private individuals and organizations to distribute bulk mail, took to referring to this claimed right as “frea speach”, deliberately mis-spelling it partly as a parody and partly to distinguish it from actual free speech rights.

Spammers claim the right to distribute unsolicited bulk mail as part of their right to free speech under the United States Constitution. After one such person repeatedly misspelled it as “frea speach”, newsgroup participants who argued that the right to free speech refers to the right to not be censored by the U.S. government and nothing to do with the right to employ the services of private individuals and organizations to distribute bulk mail, took to referring to this claimed right as “frea speach”, deliberately mis-spelling it partly as a parody and partly to distinguish it from actual free speech rights.