The address was definitely harvested by a spider bot. The mail server is part of a University network, so the owners didn't sell it, and I've only recieved Messages originating from the same server. So the only possible way that the address got on spam lists is because some bot randomly happened upon it. Well, someone else could have sold the 50 or so addresses to a spammer, but I doubt that.
About the Hotmail accounts, I've suspected this for a while, but never really bothered taking time to prove it (set up dummy account, send mail from Hotmail accounts, wait to see if spam arrives). That's why I don't really send mail out of my Hotmail accounts, I just recieve sign-up confirmations.
Like I said, I just wanted to rant about how sad it is when a company resorts to a very unpopular advertising method to sell a product designed (supposedly) to block that same advertising method.
Personally, I never really understood why spammers continue to just buy any address they can and send several different ads to them. They say that the "0.001% response is enough to compensate for the costs". Well, why not work on sending to addresses that might even remotely be interested in responding? Changing 0.001% to .5% has to be more profitable, right? And, you get the added bonus of pissing fewer people off. For example, there are several ads marketing certain ways to enhance physical aspects that are specific to only a specific gender, within a certain age range, with an income level that allows for the frivolous expence of that enhancement. Send to just the people that fit into those catagories, and the 0.001% could turn to .5%. Maybe. But no, I have to recieve 50 Messages a day that inform me of a new way to make my chest bigger, and they ain't talking about a new exercise program.
*/rant*