Europe has been taking the lead in several areas of technology lately. The European Space Agency (ESA) will be the first to send an unmanned cargo ship to the international space station. London will be Europe's first city to get A380 Airbus service. Now Europe claims another "accolade" -- Symantec says it's responsible for most of the spam sent worldwide. I guess two outta three ain't bad.

As detailed in its monthly "State of Spam" report, Symantec states that 44% of the world's spam now originates from Europe, as opposed to the 35% that comes from North America. Not only that, but this is the third month in a row that Europe has topped the U.S. in this category.

By comparison, when Symantec first began tracking the stats less than six months ago, Europe was responsible for 30% while North America claimed ownership of more than 46%.

In fairness, Symantec makes a few disclaimers about its findings. The use of Trojans and other redirect technology allows spammers to make it look like their messages are coming from geographical locations. So it's impossible to say with total certainty where the spam's point of origin is, exactly.

Now, before everyone here in the States breathes a sigh of relief that the heat is on someone else for a change, don't wipe your brows just yet -- we're still responsible for a hefty chunk of the e-junk. At least the spammers in our own "backyard" are. And we're no closer to curtailing the proliferation.

Oh, and in case you're wondering where that remaining 21% of spam comes from -- let's just say raising polar bears and mysterious black clouds aren't the only things those Dharma folks are up to on that island of theirs. 'Namaste,' my Aunt Petunia!