The flood of e-mail spam, or junk e-mails, that bombards Internet users daily has become a nagging problem, according to a survey released by the Taiwan Internet Association.

The survey found that Internet users receive an average of 29 junk e-mails per day, with most of them related to pornography, violence, fraud, online shopping and computer viruses.

Up to 70 percent of recipients simply delete these messages without bothering to open them up.

On the effects of junk e-mail, the public is most worried about their propensity to spread computer viruses, with 80.5 percent saying that they are irksome, 78.1 percent considering them a waste of time, and 51.6 percent saying they are a waste of computer and Internet resources.

Around 50 percent worried that the spam could inadvertently cause them to delete other important information, and 41.3 percent said they are worried about being defrauded.

The survey also showed that 74 percent of the public hope the government can formulate legislation or take administrative measures to regulate the spam.

The survey also found that 24.1 percent of those polled spend between one and two hours on the Internet daily if working hours are excluded, while 65.9 percent spend more than two hours.

The survey also found that 64.5 percent send less than five e-mails daily, while only around 20 percent send more than 10 e-mails a day.