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RFC for Spammers
kousik writes "rfc3098 is out with the title "How to Advertise Responsibly Using E-Mail and Newsgroups or - how NOT to $$$$$ MAKE ENEMIES FAST! $$$$$"." This is a well written piece, and actually is worth reading for anyone doing advertising online. Unfortunately the people who need to understand it will never read it. And the most evil of spammers won't care because (here's the shocker) Spam Works. As long as people respond to unsolicited spam, it'll keep coming.
-- Anonymous Coward
Man, you get karma points for my script! Well, at least you didn't claim it was yours... :)
My Freakin Blog
Notable changes:
Too bad no one will read this. :)
My Freakin Blog
According to NANPA, those code are for Washington and Nevada respectivley.
Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is paved with melting snowballs.
I read the internet for the articles.
You'll blow through it within two weeks, if not sooner. ISP's are now charging for spam sent.
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WolfSkunks for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.keenspace.com";
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# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
So does armed robbery, but you still deserve to go to jail for it.
This is akin to telling drug users "DON'T DO DRUGS" rather than giving them practical advice as to how they can do drugs safely.
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Just goes to show -- people do listen.
The RFC gives an example of a "confirmation message" which informs the recipient that s/he has been subscribed to a mailing list, and gives instructions for unsubscribing. This is not what modern mailing-list management packages (such as GNU Mailman or ezmlm/idx mean by a "confirmation message". These packages require that a user confirm by email that s/he wants to be on the list before adding the user to the list proper. The RFC allows that the user be subscribed first, and have to take action in order to unsubscribe.
The problem should be obvious: If you have to take action to unsubscribe from a list you never asked to be on, then your mailbox can still be flooded with list email before you have a chance to get off the list. You can be subscribed without your consent by a hostile party who wants to mailbomb you. (This is more common on badly-managed mailing lists than you might think.)
Spammers today already send out (fraudulent) "how to unsubscribe" messages, whereas well-managed mailing lists require active confirmation. An RFC on how to avoid being, or looking like, a spammer should recommend that one follow the methods of the best-managed legitimate mailing lists, not those of the spammers.
I would suggest that anyone interested in responsible mailing-list operation check out the MAPS Basic Mailing List Management Principles for Preventing Abuse. A mailing list which follows these rules will be much more resistant to abuse than one which strictly follows RFC3098. Moreover, a list which strictly follows RFC3098 and which is abused will qualify its site for the MAPS RBL.
Because the Slashdot Effect is so good, I want some!
http://www.technopagan.org/echo/rfc3098.txt
Most spam I get is porn and make money fast etc. but every now and then you get some spam for a product you would potentially be interested in (eg hardware or web hosting or whatever). But I would never deal with any of these companies since I figure if they are using spam they are probably not very reputable.
On the other hand I get a lot of snail mail advertising (I guess because my address is in my whois). I'd be more likely to deal with these companies since I figure if they are willing to pay for overseas postage just to tell me about their products then they are probably worth doing business with.
I actually liek snail mail advertising. I don't mind telemarketers either, but I would never do business with a spammer - spam is more likely to make me not do business with someone.
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enterfornone - logging in for a change
Take a look at your spam's headers. They're frequently sent through a dialup that connects to a mail relay. Whenever I receive a spam, I forward it with headers to abuse@_theisp_.com. No monitoring needed on the ISP end.
/ \
\ / ASCII ribbon campaign for peace
x
/ \
(SpamCon is still accepting registrations, BTW. More info can be found here.)
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The key word there is "sometimes." I know Xoom.com was one of the ones who kept their word, but there are still many other sites out there who, as soon as you click that link or send them an email, they use that as confirmation that their spam reached an active e-mail address. After that, look out, because your address will be relatively more valuable than the average email address in a spam database.
(Nope, I didn't work for Xoom, but some friends who worked with them were involved in their spam system. Considering the huge amounts of spam they send out, I was very surprised when he told me that they actually do honor spam removal requests. (Or did, anyway; those guys don't work there anymore, so I don't know if they still do or not. Are they still around?)
Cheers,
One ISP I worked for used to know we were being used to send spam because our mail server would die.
Generally there's two ways the administrator of a mail server would know someone is sending spam through the mail server -- the first is that they note the amount of mail being sent through the server. This could be considered 'monitoring your email' but it's highly unlikely that anyone would look unless you were sending a *very* high volume of email (if you're sending less than 100 messages at a time, don't even worry). The second would be for someone to email the admin and telling them that they got spam through that server.
Either way, there's no legal barrier that I know of keeping your ISP from reading your email, unless there's something within your agreement with them (then you have a contract). That said, it's highly unlikely the sysadmins are that bored.
If you're really worried about it, find an ISP that's willing to promise that they'll never read your email, or use GPG
rark!
Pheremone Cologne, and the Dates I Got
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Not much to it yet, just, "The OJ loophole: 'Pretend the gloves don't fit.'"
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Bet you wish you got to it first! Nothin' like karma whoring...
BTW, you should check out the new additions...
This is all you need to know. My config is actually kind of amusing. I've picked up various rules from various people along the way, so most of it isn't mine originally. Here's what I use minus some personal information:
The lameness filter got me... Get this here.
Regaining your honor after you have spammed
1. Obtain a sword
2. Slit your belly horizontally and vertically
3. Lean forward, spilling your intestines to the ground
4. Hand the sword to a close associate who will lop off your head
Close adherence to this procedure will permit you to regain the honor you have lost in spamming.
Webcasting the proceeding is preferred but not required.
Help fight spam by reporting the spammers to their service providers. Most free email and web-hosting companies have terms of use argreements that forbid their use in spam, and WILL terminate the accounts of offenders. And most ISPs will take action against open relays and cancel accounts used for spamming.
The easiest way is to use SpamCop, which will automatically mail abuse reports to service providers and submit open relay information to ORBS.
It only takes a minute or two, and the more people who participate, the greater the inconvenience for the spammers.
Why is three quarters of the spam I get ads for spamming services? That seems to suggest that the services aren't getting a whole lot of repeat business.
Hmmm point taken.
Of course I didn't state how much a license would cost, and perhaps non-profit orginizations, or private individuals/private groups could be granted cheap/free licenses. I'm just trying to see if there is any way to stop/find/kill the people responsible for most of the SPAM ('course I feel the offers for credit cards that keep piling up in my mailbox).
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
hehehe funny. I know I'ts gotten to the point that I'll get the same piece of SPAM 2-3 times within a few days. You'd think the companies sending this drek out would try NOT to do this. All it does is innure us to it, and make it easier to spot the SPAM even before (or very soon after) you open the e-mail.
Purhaps the best thing would be for it to be illegal to send bulk e-mail in the U.S. without a license (or without registering a Postal Address to go with that e-mail). Then, just maintain a list (updated once a month or whenever), of valid licenses that can be included as part of the SMTP Headers. If the header isn't there, and its a bulk e-mail, make it a Mail Fraud crime. Invalid License #, Mail Fraud. Faked License #, Mail Fraud. That way the Government can 1) charge people for bulk commercial e-mail (the licensing fee), which will automatically help cut back on e-mails. 2) impose fines, which will also help cut back on e-mail.
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
Reply to spam? Are you crazy? I don't even read it.
My spam detector is so honed that when going thru my morning e-mail it only takes a couple of seconds to delete my daily dose of spam. I don't even think about it - it's like driving to work when you start daydreaming and realize you drove 5 miles without even being aware of it. auto-spam-delete engaged.
Maybe we're hitting on the wrong people? Maybe, instead of trying to get rid of spammers, we should get rid of people who reply to spam?
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
RFC 3098 Advertising Responsibly April 2001
AFJ!
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We should use the Spam logo we're using now. Hornel does not control our use of icons, regardless of what they'd like to do.
Actually if he's using the MacOS, the ueber-filtering program is Barebones Mailsmith
http://www.barebones.com/products/mailsmith/
Object oriented and grep based filters. It's neat.
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Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
What you wrote is:
Would you like me to post it un-munged, as a demonstration of your sincerity?/.
/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
That (and spammers who post 800/888 numbers) are what pay phones are for....
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/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
Correction: As long as someone believes that spam works, there will be spammers to take their money. It does not need to actually work any more than the Brooklyn Bridge needs to actually be for sale.
/.
/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
Here's a couple of tips on SPAM:
/ privacy-policy.html">Network Solutions Privacy Policy Page</A>. I did it, and it cut my SPAM in half.
If you own your own domain, chances are you're getting hammered with SPAM. Fill out the <A HREF="http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/legal
Also, use your favorite mail client, and automatically move the emails where you are not in the To: Cc: or Bcc: lines to a different folder (if you look at your spam, you will notice that you are not on these lines most of the time). You'll probably want to change this filter to exclude any mailing lists you're on.
+-- (Score:-1, Moderator on Power Trip)
Slashdot me! DO IT!!! ;)
-Omar
I sometimes get spammed on ICQ, so one day I started quizing a spammer since I was bored. They don't get it. They just don't understand what they are doing. I tried for an hour to explain the costs involved and they don't care. They think bandwidth and mail storage is free and theirs for the taking.
:)
I pushed to get some kind of answer on the percentage of people that respond to them...they wouldn't say. I assume very close to zero.
The funniest thing was the guy I was messing with didn't think spamming on ICQ was actually spam. He sent one of those fake "Hey, help me out with my homepage. It's at www.makemoneynow.com (or something) messages. No, that isn't spam.
(Note: I know the link I mention in my sig asks for email addresses. Use a fake one, they don't check and she'd appreciate the votes.)
# !/bin/sh
/tmp/morons
/tmp/morons` ; do echo ipf block in on all from $i/24 to any port = 25 >> /etc/ipf.rules ; done
/tmp/morons
/etc/ipf.rules
# Assholes v.1
echo enter assholes name
read asshole
asshole=$ashole
nslookup $assholes | grep Address | awk '{print $2}' | grep -v YOUR-NAME-SERVER-GOES-HERE >
for i in `cat
rm
Or... you could just...
echo ipf block in on all from $assholes/24 to any port = 25 >>
I've blocked tons of unwanted shit with little scripts like this... I never understood whats so damn bad about just creating something similar... Besides most of the spam I receive is from completely worthless mail servers that I barely know anyone at. If they need to reach me I'm sure they'll find a way...
Want Root?
Joe Average User lets his ISP deal with the spam issue -- filtering, etc. -- and the costs of such services are passed along to him.
So what makes you think ISP's would want spam eliminated if this were the case. Rather they'd look forward to making more money at any cost (remember their a business not your friends) Its the ISP's faults from the get go, since they should be responsible to set up their networks free from the ability of having users send spam via way of "spoofing" or other methods
used by spammers. Set up their networks correctly with the proper outgoing and incoming filters.
If spam was effectively eliminated, either through a technological or legislative solution, these costs would disappear, and either ISPs could pass along the savings to the customer.
Uh... Think about what your saying here. Create a "one rule fits all" situation which would create more chaos then it would help. Why should the US follow laws created in West Bubblefuck and vice versa? Then what? I think you should look into a cybercrime bill the EU is trying to pass which is right along the lines of this... Meaning officials down with the cybercrime law would be able to serve a warrant in their country and have another country honor that warrant. Don't you see the possible abuse of ideas such as yours?
Want Root?
Actually, it was Yom Kippur.
Also, don't forget Hank Greenberg.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
When reporting a spam, don't just report it to abuse@[isp] and postmaster@[isp] - if the spam contains a valid link (e.g. www.spammingforjesus.com), then find out who is the DNS host for that domain and notify them, too. Getting Internet connectivity is easy, getting a domain name is (somewhat) harder. Kill the domain and really put a twist in his jockeys...
www.eFax.com are spammers
When I receive spam takes me about 5 muscles to hit the down arrow, then hit the d key to delete it in mutt. Not a big deal at all.
We hear this argument all the time. "Just delete it, it's no big deal."
One of the things I do it firewall repetitive hosts that the message traversed through via ipf and its very simple to create a script to just block it via ipf as well or any other firewall your using.
Not everyone has these kinds of options, or the time and knowledge to set this sort of thing up. Joe Average User lets his ISP deal with the spam issue -- filtering, etc. -- and the costs of such services are passed along to him. If spam was effectively eliminated, either through a technological or legislative solution, these costs would disappear, and either ISPs could pass along the savings to the customer.
The fact of the matter is, whether or not you're receiving spam, you're probably paying for it indirectly, somehow.
In related news, can anyone give me a ride to the hospital when I get scurvy?
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Since the problem is that "spam works", get ISPs to outlaw responding to spam, via the ISPs' AUPs. Then send some spam and forward the email address of any moron who replies to their own ISP.
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"that's not encryption - it's a new perl script that I'm working on..." - from some Matrix parody
Another method would be to require all E-Mail sent to you to be encrypted with your personal and obnoxiously long PGP (GPG) key. Again, a good EULA on your key will allow you to extract that 4 pounds of flesh from any spammer who's going to take the time still try to E-Mail you. Not that any of them will.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
That's sad. And you know what's worst, those Nigerian scammers are still scamming people... and I'm caught in the middle!
I'm an admin* for my father's business*, and he's one of those suckers for SPAM and scams. It's really sad. I believe he already lost tens of thousands of dollars due to scams... and the insane part is that he doesn't learn!
And the latest scheme, those Nigerians*. This is the vague story I received so far.
The Nigerians front a shop to scam suckers like my dad. Supposedly they needed to export some large sums of money to the US. They needed someone from the US to hold it. To earn that person's trust, that person gives back money, gifts, and whatever back to the Nigerian company. The co. calls the sucker... err.. victim up and sends him a check... in this case it was $150k to hold.
Umm... $150k in an account seems pretty suspicious right? Well, it was a business account, and the check was flagged for fraud. So there's investigations at my place... and I'm trying to dump my hardware. (Only because I hear horror stories that they take your hardware and it's a bitch to get back.)Which is the reason why my website is down :(
Anyway, back on track. My dad is (my theory) the fall guy for that Nigerian co. and now they're laughing because they have his money. But the funny thing is that I hear that co. is still trying to find a way to export the money. (I don't get it... I really don't get it.)
Now that's really off topic. Watching my dad trying to make a million over night over and over again... makes me realize I'm in the wrong business. I should be conning those suckers ;)
*business = who knows what it really is
*admin = milk the bandwidth because there really isn't anything to do
*Nigerians = not the country in general, just the scammers who are doing the scamming in Nigeria... I'd use an actual co. name, but I don't know one. Sorry to sound stereotypical.
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Neafevoc
What if -everyone- who received unsolicited spam replied to it? Then the spammers would be spending too much time weeding out all the "Sorry, I'm not interested, and by the way I forged my reply address" posts to find those poor slobs who -are- interested in the Herbal-V and toner cartridges.
Bow-ties are cool.
PA JIMOH ESQ.
JIMOH & ASSOCIATES
BOOK SHOP BUILDING, 11TH FLOOR
23 BROAD STREET,
LAGOS - NIGERIA
FAX: 234 1 7596610
And then the next day from these guys
KHALID ABDULLAH ESQ.
ABDULLAH & ASSOCIATES
BOOK SHOP BUILDING, 11TH FLOOR
23 BROAD STREET,
LAGOS - NIGERIA
Two lawfirms, one address! And of course it's the same friggin Nigerian Bank scam thing.
You'd think that for all their money they could at least get two different addresses! The worst part? It's in ALL CAPS!
Link to alternative: http://ftp.belnet.be/pub/mirror/src.doc.ic.ac.uk/p ackages/rfc/authors/rfc3098.txt.gz
If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
Even better, at the bottom of the email, it says this:
Ha! Who's going to send email to someone who selles email addresses to spammers?--
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I like to watch.
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I like to watch.
I used to say that, too, until some wiseacre telemarketer said, "You mean you don't call the gas company, cable company, police?" I then switched to saying, "I never do business with telemarketers." You'd be amazed at the lengths these jerks will go to trying to convince me they're not really telemarketers.
These days, as soon as my telemarketer detector goes off, I interrupt them with "Please put me on your 'do not call' list." The consistent politeness with which they say, "Right away, sir," tells me that the poor phone droids don't get penalized for this the way they do for a lost sale. And only once have I gotten a repeat call after using those magic words.
ObTopic: Does anyone know of an email client whose filtering mechanism allows me to compare fields, e.g., "if ${From:} == ${To:}..."?
According to Hormel Foods' SPAM Trademark Policy, "We do not object to use of this slang term to describe UCE, although we do object to the use of our product image in association with that term." Hormel just doesn't want SPAM Luncheon Meat to be confused with UCE.
So what icon should we use? I'd suggest an overflowing mailbox.
Will I retire or break 10K?
It seems like the best approach is really to find another means of advertising where users can't immediately delete the message upon seeing the subject header, and before seeing the actual content.
What about TV? It is usually a dead giveaway when the show your are watching has yielded to a commercial. What stops the user from seeing it is no longer the show, and getting up an using the bathroom? Changing the channel? Not only has the viewer missed your PAID advertisement, but the viewer can never retrieve it (unless he/she has a Tivo and is really bored). With SPAM, sure you can delete it but if you skip over it, at least the recipient can view it at a later time (why, I don't know, but they can).
The difference is that with spam, you get a free introductory account to an ISP, buy an inexpensive list or inexpensive address spider, and then send out as many emails as you can before the ISP cuts you off. Other advertising methods cost thousands of dollars to produce and thousands to purchase media time. That is why spam is so common - no entry cost. If you spam 50,000 people, and make $10 per response, a small 0.1% response rate still nets you $500. If you bought the list for $20, that is a good rate of return.
Persons within the state of North Dakota who would beat a spammer senseless with 10 Lbs of pickle loaf given the chance
Teehee... as I sit here reading this near Minot, ND.
Personally, I've never been motivated to buy/use/look into something after getting an email from some random company. It seems like the best approach is really to find another means of advertising where users can't immediately delete the message upon seeing the subject header, and before seeing the actual content. Granted, these pop-up windows are just plain irritating, but it looks like that's where internet advertising is going to stay for a while.
As far as email ads, I put those in the same category as those infomercials with the same voiceover guy who did the salad shooter, the Egg-Wave, and the microwavable bacon-fryer. The quality of the ad is far too low-quality for me to want to invest any sort of trust in whatever they may happen to be selling, in the incalculably slim chance that it's not some kind of Don Lapris pyramid scheme. But that's just me.
/* Steve */
"Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of"-TMBG
That does not mean that they must, or even should, be dicks about it.
It is also legal for me to fart at the beginning of a long elevator ride... but a polite person will either do so before boarding, or hold it.
To put it simply, if the law is the only thing guiding your behaviour, your are what We Doctors call and "ass hole".
Changing the icon is easy, the use of it was not really that funny to begin with, and the good people at Hormel would appreciate the change. That seems like reason enough to me.
"Can't we all just get along?"
Disclaimer: No, I am not a doctor, I was recycling an old Graham Chapman bit.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Generalizations, when not mistaken for absolute consensus, are a necessary time saver.
Perhaps, when "not mistaken for absolute consensus". But that's the mistake that document was making, which was presuming to speak for the "Internet culture".
Geez, I think I'll compain about dictionaries that designate expressions that I commonly use as "archaic"!
The difference between dictionary analysts and ESR is that analysts attempt to document the evolution of the culture, while ESR was trying to lead the culture.
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Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
I just realized this recently. I've been fighting spam for quite a while now. I've gotten quite good at getting accounts cancelled, open relays closed and whatnot. I got a spam last week that seemed like just another typical spam message... one of those "make money" type deals. Well, in researching it, it seemed like the usual free website with a form submission to a cgi script at another. (Typical tactic, to try and get people to only cancel the free site) Well, while poking around, I discovered that the cgi-bin had directory browsing on and contained two files... the script and a text file containing the name, address, email and credit card information of everyone who responded.
I fired off complaints to geocities and earthlink as well as information on what happened to all the folks whose information was in the file. Most got back to me that they'd cancelled their credit cards, etc.
Is there a moral? I could come up with something witty if I weren't so tired. So, just use this example when telling people why you don't respond to spammers.
Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc
As I write this, rfc-editor can't find the document. There are other copies of the RFCs out there; here is the link from Ohio State:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/rfc/rfc309 8. html
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/rfc/rfc3098. html
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
Face it - as long as there are idiots who really think that pyramid schemes work, viagra is the best thing since sliced bread, and that you can have all the pr0n in the world by sending some guy your CC#, there will be SPAM.
Not to say we shouldn't make life hell for'em of course.
^]:wq!^M
http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/index.htm?financial_ cr imes.htm&1
This is the Secret Service's financial crimes page. It links to (lower in the same page) the 4-1-9 (the Nigerian Bank scam) scam page, and clicking on the advisory triangle brings you to a fuller description, contact information and an email link for reporting. The Secret Service estimates losses due to this scam in the 100s of millions annually.
Messages with "reply to remove" have a reply-to email address like: dflajksdfldf@whatever.com
Just a random banging of home row keys followed by a domain name. The odds are high that those addresses DON'T EXIST
Is my from list. If you are not on it, it's unsolicited and never seen. My family and friends mail always gets in with no spam unless you call the tag on mail from a free Yahoo account spam.
The truth shall set you free!
"Generally, schizophrenia affects those in the 15 - 25 years age group. Increasingly, the individual tends to withdraw from ... The incidence of this illness world-wide, is about 1%."
"For companies with well-known brands, the 1 percent return [from spam] often isn't a good deal, and they are not going to use unsolicited advertising because it could be a damaging business practice ... They aren't always legitimate businesses."
hrm... :)
Uninnovate - Only the finest in engineering.
Responsible Spammers
People who have actually Lost 30 lbs
People who have actually fired their own boss and made $5,000 a week
People who actually benefit from Spam
Secure IIS pr0n sites you can safely leave your credit card number on
Actual women who sent spam "as a woman"
Example of a Large book:
Persons within the state of North Dakota who would beat a spammer senseless with 10 Lbs of pickle loaf given the chance
-- .sig are belong to us!
All your
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Explaining why Spam is bad and irresponsible is unlikely to deter most advertisers and marketers, since it's not ignorance that is really stoking this problem.
Spam marketers currently have an easy time making money this way because they have large volumes of targets with little to no incremental costs, meaning they need a very small percentage of success.
Most, if faced with the choice of making money or making anonymous strangers happy, will opt for the money.
IMHO, hitting spammers financially, not educationally, would be more likely to work.
Beware typoes.
Unfortuantely, the RFC for murder was killed in committee.
Beware typoes.
Everytime an employee gets fired/quits, I have to delete their account & archive their old mail.I keep their account active for a month to forward to whoever replaces them and discover that they're on the gap mailing list, contest lists, pr0n list, etc. and their e-mail addresses have been passed around more than a water bong at 4:20.
Oh, and it's an added treat knowing that probably half of the media we use for those mail archives probably contain spam. No one ever seems to mention that added expense that spam causes.
/*drunk.. fix later*/
If you're using Outlook, you're probably also using Win32, or possibly MacOS, in which cases you can use Eudora, which offers better boolean filtering than it's Microsoft equivalent. What you don't get in Eudora is visual basic support, which neatly fubars the majority of VBS-script mail *assuming* you don't use Eudora's built in option to use IE as the message editor. It's also a good idea to get rid of WSH. You also don't get all those schedulers or public folders crap that PHB's like. AFAIK, all three version of Eudora include the complete filtering options.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
Instead of returning copies of the bible, pizza's and bricks, next time I can send a couple of rfc's as a reply to the spam!
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Privacy is terrorism.
I'm guessing the focus of the quote you're using is that while people make money from spamming now, there isn't much room for expansion. ("The possibility of income generation and market or business expansion are minuscule") The world may be full of stupid people, but there're still only a finite number of them. The prediction here is that any rush on Spamming will bust like the recent downturn in the online business industry. It's a warning that there is no guarantee of success just because it works for the first few people, there's only so much market to saturate with any business.
Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
How does an ISP detect spam-sending activities?
I don't send spam, but I don't know of anything about my ISP monitoring my Emails...which is disturbing.
Would this sort of thing be legal?
Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
I know Outlook is a virus-spreading hellspawn of a program, but it does have a really powerful filtering capability. You can filter by sender, by keywords in the subject line, by keywords in the body, and set up a pile of rules to deal with offending messages.
I may still get spam, but I never see it.
What other email programs out there can do this?
I love to dump Outlook and use something else, but this feature keeps me using it.
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www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
Hey, well, SPAM DOES work. I should know. Some guy ofered me $10,000 a month to work out of my home! As soon as I hear from him, and I recieve my "special instructions" (which the $25 is well worth), I'll be rolling in the dough...
One thing I noticed, however, was that they listed a phone number to call them at. A quick web search for that phone number turned up the home page for the company behind the spam...including...
...a legitimate e-mail address to contact them at. I e-mailed them, asking politely to be removed from their list. They responded, contritely, that they will do so. As they were pretty clearly busted I am somewhat optimistic that they'll remove me.
If they don't I know have TWO legitimate e-mail addresses at their company and I can easily rig my system to automatically bounce 50 copies of every spam I get from them right back at those addresses.
I'd (almost) hate to do that, but it may be the only way to really get their attention.
Coach
Perhaps the world's greatest tragedy is that ignorance is not impotence.
(Score:5, Insightful)
Try this--it really works!!! You won't be disappointed. For every +1 mod point you spend on this post, you will get a little video that pops up on your screen that is SO FUNNY!!!! You will laugh and laugh--it's worth it. Also, you recieve valuable Slashdot coupons redeemable at any participating "Slashdots" store in a mall near you, and you will be entered in our MILLION DOLLAR PRIZE sweepstakes.
All this -- for just ONE MOD POINT!!!!!!!
Please pass this post on to five other friends who you'd like to make millionares of. Slashdot is testing their EMAIL TRACKING system which will tally the forwarded emails--the 'dotter with the most forwards will win a trip to DISNEYLAND!
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Sorry not to troll here, but everyone gets dog shit on their street. Yes its annoying, no it won't be stopped no matter what many think since laws here, won't apply elsewhere, and vice versa.
When I see dog shit in the street it takes me about 5 muscles to move my leg left or right, then put my foot down, not in the mutt doings. Not a big deal at all. One of the things I do is buttplug repetitive dogs that keep crapping on the street and its very simple to create a scooper to just pick it up as well or any other street cleaner your using.
Sorry I know it sounds trollish to post this but the fact remains, dog shit will always be around on the streets simply because you cannot regulate the entire world with a "one rule fits all" scheme.
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Yes, the nick is flamebait
All this stuff sounds OK to newbies too. They WANT to receive more information in their email so they don't uncheck the little boxes. They WANT to help the little sick girl by forwarding this email to as many people as possible.
Not everyone is a 31337 hax0r. As long as there are newbies, this stuff will never end. Ever.
my screen name means "Greetings Friend!!!" in Finnish.