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Feds Cracking the Whip on Spammers

Britano writes "Fox News is reporting that the FTC has started to go after spammers and online scammers. So the governement has finally started on the side of the consumer. "The Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday that is has created a nationwide task force that has already brought 63 law enforcement actions against Web-based scams ranging from auction frauds to bogus cancer-curing sites." Hey, this way we don't have to spend our own money on fighting this problem!"

105 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. our own money? by avandesande · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Where do you think our tax dollars come from?

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
    1. Re:our own money? by blacktar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, this is controversial as the spammers reach far outside the U.S. If they are hindered, then the FTC does the rest of the world a favour -- a favour entirely payed by the U.S. tax payers.

    2. Re:our own money? by HerringFlavoredFowl · · Score: 2

      Five a day, I would kill to only be getting 5 spams a day. My personal email accounts get 20 - 40 a day and one of my work accounts gets anywhere from 20 - 700 a day.

      Corparate email accounts such as sale@foo.bar, support@foo.bar, webmaster@foo.bar, abuse@foo.bar can not filter or delete SPAM without first opening it and verifying it is spam and not some miss directed customer looking for help.

      Hats off to the FTC, to bad the reach only goes as far as the US border. Give Bush a few weeks and it will go all the way to Chinia :-)

      --
      TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken
    3. Re:our own money? by bugg · · Score: 2

      If the transaction is occuring inside of the united states, then the FTC can certainly stop it. Spam that is sent to US residents on behalf of US based corporations would definetly be easy for the FTC to go after. The other cases will be a bit more sticky.

      --
      -bugg
    4. Re:our own money? by sulli · · Score: 2
      "Only the little people pay taxes."

      -- Leona Helmsley

      --

      sulli
      RTFJ.
    5. Re:our own money? by Moonshadow · · Score: 2

      Worse yet, our own privacy. I remember seeing something in the "Carnivore Again" story about how maybe spam is a good thing, as it provides "noise" that runs Carnivore in circles.

      Maybe they have alterior motives? Dropping the noise level to facilitate their snooping?

      Yeah, yeah, color me paranoid.

  2. hmmm. by Graspee_Leemoor · · Score: 4, Funny

    I bet them spammers like the taste of the whip! Filthy bondage whores...

  3. I wonder by CrashRide · · Score: 2, Interesting

    if this page will disappear as fast as the previous repeat about Kazaa...Posted by CmdrTaco on 15:30 3rd April, 2002 from the wow-this-is-crazy dept.

  4. spammers or scammers? by room101 · · Score: 5, Informative

    From what I have heard, it isn't so much spammers as scammers. They are shutting down the illegal scams. If you have a real business, but use spam to advertise your product, I haven't read anything to indicate that they are being targeted.

    --
    room101 -- how much can you stand before they break you?
    (they always break you eventually)
    1. Re:spammers or scammers? by Violet+Null · · Score: 5, Informative

      From the article, it seems that they're also targetting spammers that don't offer a way to opt-out; those with 'remove' links in their emails that are dead, for instance.

    2. Re:spammers or scammers? by garcia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      that opt a way out? You mean where you click the link so that they are sure that your email address is valid and it just encourages them even more?

    3. Re:spammers or scammers? by Rogerborg · · Score: 4, Insightful
      • it seems that they're also targetting spammers that don't offer a way to opt-out; those with 'remove' links in their emails that are dead, for instance

      I feel that I have to point out that everything after the semicolon is redundant. ;-)

      Incidentally, I actually do click on the remove links (yes, I know I shouldn't, but I won't lower myself to their level, and really, how much worse could it get), but it's been at least five years since I actually saw one that worked. Serious question: has anyone here received spam (in the past three years, say) with a "remove" link that actually did anything but attract more spam?

      In addition, the stock lie "This is a one off mailing. You are not on a distribution list." (insert your own typos) is also trivially disprovable, once you get the second spam.

      Seems to me like the FTC could bitchslap just about any spammer they liked simply on the grounds of flat out deception - what we old folks used to call lying, before we all started speaking like weas^H^H^H^H lawyers.

      I know it's a small point, but I actually detest honest spam slightly less: just pitch the product, tell me how to give you money (you delusional retard), and then shut up. Don't compound the insult by pretending to give a damn about opt-ins, opt-outs or privacy. That's just insulting. That makes it personal.

      So if the only thing the FTC does is to stop the insulting lies, that will at least drop my blood pressure by about five points. Go for it, G Men.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    4. Re:spammers or scammers? by coyote-san · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There are very few spammers who aren't involved in some level of scam or fraud.

      There's the obvious scams - pyramid schemes, cancer cures, etc.

      Then there's the forged headers, something that causes real problems when domain names are hijacked. This also causes real problems when the spammers have technical problems - I once got over 20 MB of spam in less than an hour because a spammer (or virus) kept hitting my address with a large unwanted message. With bogus headers, it was impossible to notify the sender and difficult to notify the originating ISP.

      A related problem is the increased use of misleading, even abusive, subject lines. The issue isn't (just) that some spam has subject lines warning of past-due accounts, bounced checks, etc., but that this deceptive practice makes legitimate communications regarding such matters much more likely to be dismissed unread.

      Finally, there's the common practice of the spammer interpreting an "opt out" message as address validation, not as a true opt-out message.

      When you eliminate spam with forged headers or "repurposed" opt-out lists, there's very little left.

      --
      For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
    5. Re:spammers or scammers? by n9hmg · · Score: 2, Informative

      I assume you're kidding about the opt out.
      I used to appreciate the inclusion of options to opt out of spam, but noticed that it didn't seem to help.
      As an experiment, I created a user (Not a new hotmal or yahoo address... those seem to be immediately published), and as that user, followed the unsubsubscribe instructions. That user promptly began recieving spam, and its only action was to request to not receive spam.
      Sure, there're probably some spammers that actually do the opt out, but even of those who do, they stop sending you spam themselves, while adding you to the list of validated email addresses they compile and sell to other spammers.

    6. Re:spammers or scammers? by diverman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have always been against the opt-out strategy for SPAM. I thought it was a stupid idea when it was first proposed as a requirement. And my reasons for this opinion... well, they pretty much started showing up immediately. False "opt-out" links.

      The government (and anyone else involved in the opt-out standard) was simply beyond stupid. Although, it's a fine line between stupid an blinded by greed. How could anyone NOT see that opt-out had WAY too many loop holes that would take advantage and abuse the helpless public???

      If they were to choose for opt-out, they should have gone with a central "trusted" method of removal. They do this with the post office when you want to be removed from junk mailing lists. How can it not have occured to them that the same should apply to junk-email??? Of COURSE scam artists, and corrupt business will flury with the current opt-out standard. Duh!

      I would hope that SOMEONE in control would do the whole "SPAM" registration thing, for several reasons.

      1. It would be clear which SPAMers are breaking the law and should be targetted (lower cost to enforce).

      2. The public would be better protected.

      3. We would KNOW when we should click on the "remove me" link to be removed. Or better yet... just have a standard website, with a SPAM code to enter.

      Stupid, ignorant, techno-brain-dead government oficials. *sigh* The worst part being that this effect isn't unique to email. Junk mail and telemarketting fall under the same concept, and yet, have protective rules/laws in place.

      *sigh*
      -Alex

    7. Re:spammers or scammers? by swb · · Score: 2

      If you have a real business, but use spam to advertise your product,

      I don't know about *your* spam, but mine has almost never been for something I'd consider a legitimate product, even when legitimate is stretching the bounds of imagination.

      It's always penis tricks, porn, stock swindles, pyramid schemes and health scams. It's never anything else.

    8. Re:spammers or scammers? by panda · · Score: 2

      My other favorite lie: "You're receiving this because you signed up at our site." Bullshit!

      --
      Just be sure to wear the gold uniform when you beam down -- you know what happens when you wear the red one.
    9. Re:spammers or scammers? by Thing+1 · · Score: 2
      If they were to choose for opt-out, they should have gone with a central "trusted" method of removal. They do this with the post office when you want to be removed from junk mailing lists. How can it not have occured to them that the same should apply to junk-email???

      Several years ago I blew some investment funds on bulk mail, and learned one trick the mailing list companies use. When a list is sold as "one-time use only," a small percentage (1% or less, depending on the list size) of the addresses are actually "fake" addresses which lead back to the list owners.

      If they get two offers from you, you're in trouble.

      With this in mind, I really like the idea of an "opt-out" national (international?) database. A percentage of the addresses in this database will loop back to the government, and anyone sending SPAM to those addresses will be in trouble.

      Also, the database could be "blind" -- the SPAMmer submits the email address to send to, and a simple "yes" or "no" is returned. The SPAMmer never sees the entire list.

      Of course, using a dictionary and "@hotmail.com" (among others) could allow a SPAMmer to script harvesting the database, even though it was "blind" -- but that 1% rule would most likely catch them.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    10. Re:spammers or scammers? by Rogerborg · · Score: 2

      And on the day when advocating behaving like a civilised being was labelled a "troll", the foundations of society shook unto their very core. Oh yes.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  5. Re:Finally by gerbache · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, considering how many of the spammers and such are from countries other than the US, I have to wonder about the effectiveness of this sort of measure. Of course, it certainly can't hurt us, in the long run, so I won't complain!

  6. our own money by seinman · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey, this way we don't have to spend our own money on fighting this problem!


    don't pay your taxes much, eh taco?

  7. Why is it by Dead+Penis+Bird · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That it took so long for the Feds to finally realize that crimes on the Internet are no different than those off of it? Bogus charities and pyramid schemes have existed long before the net. It shouldn't be any different, should it?

    --

    If I weren't nailed to the penis, I'd be pushing up the daisies!

    1. Re:Why is it by aozilla · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That it took so long for the Feds to finally realize that crimes on the Internet are no different than those off of it?

      Because all the "real" crimes take place in the "real" world.

      --
      ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
    2. Re:Why is it by aozilla · · Score: 2

      If you use the internet to scam an old woman out of her life savings and she had to eat dog food for the rest of her life, she has been hurt just as bad as if someone committed a "real" crime and stole all the money she hides under her mattress.

      You can't use pain to judge whether or not something is a crime.

      People need to get out of the mindset that white collar crime isn't a "real" crime.

      I'm not saying white collar crime isn't "real" crime, I'm saying 1s and 0s aren't "real" crime.

      --
      ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
  8. Own money? by EDinWestLA · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Hey, this way we don't have to spend our own money on fighting this problem!


    Um, who do you think pays for the FTC to do this in the first place?
    1. Re:Own money? by invenustus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I took the comment as sarcasm. As in net users' being happy because the Nanny State is taking care of it for us, and taxing the Big Evil Corporations (TM) to do so. But maybe the submitter was serious. In which case, that's a shame.

      --
      grep -ri 'should work' /usr/src/linux | wc -l
    2. Re:Own money? by Sarin · · Score: 2

      No, he's right.

      Not being from the USA I don't pay American taxes, American spammers are a big source of irritation for me as well.
      It's nice to see them fight this problem, while the money stays in my wallet.

  9. Uh OK... by MasterBlaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you can manage to track the spammers down in another country...

    Anyway, this is mostly about scam spam. This wont even effect the "buy a million addresses on a CD" spam as long as they are actually selling that product.

    This just cracks down on something that was already illegal--it really doesn't have anything to do with spam.

    1. Re:Uh OK... by Sarin · · Score: 2

      So how do they want to check if people are actually selling the product, are they going to buy everything that's being offered to them in the spam messages in order to check it out?

      If that's the case, my spam to them will be something like: "buy ten addressess on a CD for only $1 million"
      and my mass spam could be somehing like "get rich fast by ripping off the USA government"

  10. What an excellent way... by teamhasnoi · · Score: 3, Troll

    for the government to get it's invasive little paws into the stream of email everywhere! Sounds like an excuse to install "Herbivore". "It's a SPAM-fighter! Honest!" Can't wait to see my tax dollars at work.

    1. Re:What an excellent way... by Tackhead · · Score: 3, Interesting
      > for the government to get it's invasive little paws into the stream of email everywhere! Sounds like an excuse to install "Herbivore". "It's a SPAM-fighter! Honest!" Can't wait to see my tax dollars at work.

      You know, I'd much rather have Carnivore being used to track down and exterminate the chronic offenders like A--- R----- (priors for bank fraud) and other spam kingpins.

      In fact, if Carnivore can be used by the FBI to put pigfuckers (apologies to those of you who merely fuck pigs) like A--- R----- and E------ H----- and the others like them in prison for running multi-year criminal conspiracies to defraud, then I'd be all for it.

      Imagine the headline: DCS-1000 used to capture a guy with a multiyear history of fraud, seize his assets, and put him in jail.

      With the technology they've got available for deployment on the 'net, the Feds could end spam in a day and simultaneously gain widespread public support for Carnivore.

      Sounds like a win-win to me. Any G-men reading? Wanna pass this on to your PR guys, run a few focus groups/surveys, and see if it'll fly with the public? I've got a dozen Krispy Kremes that says it will. You guys probably have me pegged as one of "those silly privacy nuts". If even someone like me would support Carnivore as a spam-extermination tool, then Lord knows Joe and Jane Q. Public would go for it.

  11. This just in... by Em+Emalb · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Cyberspace is a wondrous place, but we are quickly learning it can also be a dangerous place for the unwary," she said. "Con artists who once relied on telephone boiler rooms and mass mailings can now rip people off through Web sites and e-mail."

    In a related news story, Fox reports that gullible people often get ripped off.

    Ok, here's the thing. I strongly believe spam would go away if people would QUIT BEING STUPID. If they would just think for a minute and say hmm, it seems this magic Cancer cure is too good to be true. Why haven't I heard about it in other sources? Now, I will say that these bastards selling hope in the form of a cancer cure is genuinely despicable, and they need to share a room with Bubba for doing it. However, WISE UP PEOPLE!!!! Do you really think xsegry17l33t@yahoo.com is a viable businessman? Come on!

    -5 redundant

    --
    Sent from your iPad.
    1. Re:This just in... by Carmody · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Cyberspace is a wondrous place, but we are quickly learning it can also be a dangerous place for the unwary," she said. "Con artists who once relied on telephone boiler rooms and mass mailings can now rip people off through Web sites and e-mail."

      I take issue with the word "quickly" in the above quotation.

      DJS

      --
      God is real unless declared integer
    2. Re:This just in... by Eimi+Metamorphoumai · · Score: 2

      There are a few problems with that philosophy.
      1) We should protect the innocent from the unscrupulous
      2) Spammers are stupid too. How many actually make a significant amount of money from it? Just because there's no market doesn't mean they'll stop sending it.
      3) and most important, I'm not stupid (in that way), but it keeps coming to me. Any piece of spam I don't have to see because the person who was going to send it is doing time is less hassle for me. Spam doesn't only affect those who take people up on the "specail [sic] once in a life time opertunitys! [sic]". We all suffer from it.

      --

      Visit me on #weirdness on the Galaxynet.

  12. mailto:UCE@FTC.GOV by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Informative
    On the FTC web site they state:

    If you would like to forward unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) to the Commission, please send it directly to UCE@FTC.GOV without using this form.


    So, add that to Securities and Exchange commissions abuse site enforcement@sec.gov and you have some good places to forward your spam.

    Send all "Great new stock tip" crap to the SEC, send all the ripoff products to the FTC, and copy Spamcop on everything, and maybe we can crush these bastards.

    (Hey, by placing these addresses on a public site like /., they are likely to get harvested by the spammers....)


    1. Re:mailto:UCE@FTC.GOV by The+G · · Score: 5, Funny

      UCE@FTC.GOV

      Excellent. Now I'll just provide that address to all of those "you must provide your email address -- not that we'd ever spam you..." registration-required sites.
      --G

    2. Re:mailto:UCE@FTC.GOV by GregWebb · · Score: 2

      Well, it's one way of making sure they get lots of samples to investigate, though I suspect a plain address on slashdot has already had some of that effect...

      --

      Greg

      (Inside a nuclear plant)
      Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!

  13. does that mean that I can sue somebody ;-) by marijne · · Score: 2, Funny

    "I think all of us have found something in our e-mail that is highly suspect," said Eileen Harrington, associate director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Affairs. "They may be subject to law enforcement."

    Does this mean that I can sue all these US spammers who invite me to become a callgirl, get cheaper payments om my house, get a higher turn over on investments or grow a larger penis ;-)
    Not that I actually fall for these things, I never assume for a minute that I can get a loan in the US based on my house in the Netherlands, but it would be nice to sue somebody, just for the experience...
    I can get really pissed of about this stupid spamm stuff which does not even discriminate the difference between continents when offering local (scam) stuff.

  14. They're starting to crack down now... by dimer0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    .. because after I read a story here last month and found out about the uce@ftc.gov address they want spam forwarded to, I've probably crashed their email servers 10 times with the volume I've pushed to them.

    People - use this address to bounce your spam to - it appears something is actually being done about it!

    (This is debatable) Better to have the feds go after these people then report to spamcop and have, well, ISPs breathing down your back.

  15. User's Problem by kkirk007 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    One of the alleged scammers the government is investigating is David L. Walker, who is said to have charged between $2,400 and $5,200 on his Web site for a cancer treatment hoax

    I understand the desperation that's felt by someone with cancer, but really, what kind of person is going to believe that the miracle cure for cancer is sitting on some shady website and not in the hospitals?

    A fool and his money are soon parted...

    1. Re:User's Problem by Tackhead · · Score: 2
      > I understand the desperation that's felt by someone with cancer, but really, what kind of person is going to believe that the miracle cure for cancer is sitting on some shady website and not in the hospitals?

      Anyone who hasn't been trained in the ways of logical reasoned thought is a target for quacks.

      Quackery is a multimillion dollar business in America. (Depending on how strictly or loosely you define it, it's a multibillion dollar business.)

      The best answer to your question is here:

      A Special Message for Cancer Patients Seeking "Alternative" Treatments

      If you don't have time to go through that whole list, the short answer to your question is that quacks use every trick in the book to find the most efficient way of separating the emotionally-vulnerable from their money, and (like any other group of professionals), they're extremely good at it. They even have lobby groups to get laws changed in their favor.

      Unlike most professionals, of course, quacks harm their clients, rather than helping them.

      I'm gratified to see the FTC moving in on these bastards as part of the spam problem, but I'm afraid it's just the tip of the iceberg.

    2. Re:User's Problem by Stonehand · · Score: 2

      The same folks who believe in crystal healing and other New Age foolishness? There are some who reject traditional Western-style medicine because it comes from the West, it seems.

      --
      Only the dead have seen the end of war.
    3. Re:User's Problem by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I understand the desperation that's felt by someone with cancer, but really, what kind of person is going to believe that the miracle cure for cancer is sitting on some shady website and not in the hospitals?

      The kind of person who is dying of cancer. And has already been to hospitals, which told him/her that there's nothing they can do.

    4. Re:User's Problem by Ian+Peon · · Score: 2
      what kind of person is going to believe that the miracle cure for cancer is sitting on some shady website and not in the hospitals?

      Well, how about:

      What kind of person is going to believe that there is a better OS than Windows and it's free?

      or a closer analogy:

      What kind of person is going to believe that there is a better OS than Windows sitting on some shady website somewhere and Microsoft isn't selling it?

      I thought that Slashdot would be one of the last places where it would be assumed that the best solution (medical/technical) available is automatically mainstream. Don't assume that because it hasn't been accepted means it doesn't work. If I found out that by gargling vinegar my cancer went away, and I tell all my friends and they all gargle vinegar and all their cancers go away, would the Amercian Cancer Society declare me a hero?? What about all that money (is it billions of dollars?) that go EVERY YEAR into cancer cures? No one can patent vinegar, no one can make money off of it. Sure, a doctor who has taken an oath to make you well would LOVE to see you better, but drug companies have taken no such oath. They are out to make money. The American Cancer Society (ACS) has recently been chided by Congress to look at alternative therapies and to stop squashing competing research - sound familiar?


      I could go on - my father died from cancer 3 years ago, and I did a huge amount of research to try and help him - the ONLY thing that did was so-called alternative treatments - but because we tried them after mainstream medicine chewed him up and spat him out (uncurable - would you like some morphine with that? Oops, looks like your lungs are collapsing - wow, he woke up after you fed him that tea, must be a fluke - oh well, tea didn't fix the damage we did, it was inevitable anyway).


      OK... gotta stop ranting and get back to work. If you want to e-mail me I'm at ian at epperson dot com.

  16. Why don't they just buy a few senators? by billtom · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is only happenning because the online scam people don't have an effective Washington lobby and don't make enough campaign contributions.

    After the FTC goons have pushed them around a bit, they'll get the idea and start paying the protection money, ah, sorry, right, that should be the "campaign contributions" (like the media industries do).

    Buy a few senators and the FTC will fight with you not against you.

  17. Whoa, Nellie!!!! by Picass0 · · Score: 2

    So the governement has finally started on the side of the consumer.

    Let's not get carried away there. I have no illusions about gov't. and it's attitude towards consummers. I'm sure he government is just looking for a way to tax spammers. There's money being made and not spread around the right circles.

  18. Help the FTC fighht SPAM. by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have automatically directed some SPAM to the FTC. I have an address on my website, for SPAMBOTS to grab. This address has an automitic forward to uce@ftc.gov. Some spammers might be smart enough to filter out .gov, but this avoids the filter.

    1. Re:Help the FTC fighht SPAM. by Sarin · · Score: 2

      I thought about this too. But aren't YOU spamming uce@ftc.gov that way? Or at least your mailserver?

  19. Devil's Advocate by Dolohov · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Y'know, as annoying as spam is, the FTC taking action is not necessarily a good thing. For all the complaining people do around here about the increasing corporatization of the Internet, I should think you would notice that the spammers these people are really going after are largely individuals and very small companies. They're not touching the big corporations (Who never spam, of course, just occasionally send out large-scale "commercial" email) who will soon find that with all the small spammer out of the way, people will be far more likely to reply to THEIR spam.

    As much as I detest spam, it at least inspires most people to develop BS detectors.

  20. Who's paying again? by sammy+baby · · Score: 2, Interesting
    From the original story:

    Hey, this way we don't have to spend our own money on fighting this problem!

    Well actually, yeah, we do. The task force will be driven by the FTC, which means that you paid for it in the form of tax dollars. Just like you pay to have a police force and public schools.

    This time around, though, instead of those of us who have to deal with spam daily paying to treat the symptoms, the government (and us, by extention) will be paying to attack the disease. Still a step in the right direction.
  21. Re:Finally by Murrow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This and similar previous FTC efforts are not going after spammers per se, but rather going after the worst of the worst pyramid schemers and snake oil salesman. The FTC has no interest in going after "legitimate" spam. And frankly, that's probably not in their mandate as an organization.

    If you want to have a government agency help with stopping the theft of service and DoS attacks that spam is, perhaps the FBI is a better place to look.
    Naw, they're too busy arresting Russian Ebook pirates. Maybe the real trick is to get Adobe complaining about spam. Then we'd see some action!

  22. Re:We are still flipping the bill by Jippy_ · · Score: 3, Funny
    I would pay an extra $50 a year to receive less Spam

    That's a good idea... And if you order now, you can become part of our "NO-SPAM / SCAM" list, at the low cost of $299.99! Your name, address, and email will be collected and stored in our special database in which we promise never to spam or scam you again. Trust us!

    =-Jippy

  23. In other words, what took so long? by drew_kime · · Score: 2

    This just cracks down on something that was already illegal--it really doesn't have anything to do with spam.

    Even if that's true, what's wrong with the feds finally enforcing laws that have been skirted for years? The only thing wrong with the stories about this is the headlines. They should read: Feds finally creack down on long-running crime

    --
    Nope, no sig
    1. Re:In other words, what took so long? by aozilla · · Score: 2

      Even if that's true, what's wrong with the feds finally enforcing laws that have been skirted for years?

      It's a waste of taxpayer dollars. Frankly, the people who fall for stupid pyramid schemes deserve to lose their money, as far as I'm concerned.

      --
      ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
  24. Bouncing/replying/etc. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, send it to them if they want it.

    One thing you shouldn't do, which sadly, too many end up doing.. is bouncing it back to the (fingerquotes) sender (end fingerquotes).

    More often than not, bob@randomisp.net isn't the one spamming you. Bob is just your average Joe who thinks spam is that stuff in a can that tastes darned good friend up on toast. (No, really, try it sometime.)

    Anyway, the people who think they're 'sticking it to the spammers' by sending spam back.. Are really just contributing to the problem. IMO, they're no better than the actual spammers.

    *hands out clues* E-mail addresses can be forged. Servers can be used to relay things. Maybe you should talk to a system admin somewhere, but it's not going to be Bob, who's just trying to check how his shares of Hormel are doing.

  25. Damn! by cecil36 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm suspecting that Shifman Consulting won't be on the list of people to be sued. I don't recall ever seeing Bernie Shifman providing or ever promising a service, other than providing hemorrhoids to his spam recipients.

  26. David L. Walker by young-earth · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apparently the state of Washington is already going after this Walker guy, as of last October. So the feds are a little slower, at least they've jumped on the bandwagon...

  27. Re:Our money? by gmack · · Score: 2

    Most spammers never see the bounce messages.

    Those get unloaded on whatever poor sucker owns the domain they "borrowed"

  28. We need to whip them, into shape by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shape them up. Get them straight. We need to go forward and move ahead. Try to detect spam. It's not too late to whip them. Whip them good.

  29. My own solution by Alien54 · · Score: 3, Funny
    My own solution has always been along the line to make spammers pay money. period. Part of what makes Spamming attractive is that the spammers do not bear the cost of their "advertising" - we all subsidize it.

    There should be a spam tax, or something similar.

    This is all commercial speeach, and so therefore the government can charge a fee to defrays the costs to the system.

    My own solution is to make every spammmer have a spamm license, so that they are easily traceable for billing purposes. We can all bill them. I have also suggested a cute orange ear tag for spammers, nut this is merely an optional element for the plan.

    The other part of this is to make it profitable for people to track down illegal spammers and get them arrested, make them pay the fees we shoiuld be charge them. Enough people do this for no money [track them down], and are expert at it, so why not let them get some financial reward out of it?

    Future spam:

    Make Money Fast Tracking Down Illegal Spam!

    [smile]

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
    1. Re:My own solution by jgerman · · Score: 2

      Umm the government doesn't own the system, so what right do they have to collect money from spam taxes, or any internet taxes for that matter.

      --
      I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
  30. I really enjoy some spam by marijne · · Score: 3, Funny

    it's always interesting to read all the possible things a guy can be tricked into doing with his penis (enlarging, pumping, drugging it with viagra (herbal or normal), etc...)
    it's a whole new world for a gel

  31. Guess Carnivore is choking on all that Spam by theLunchLady · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not that spam is meat, but anyone notice the appropriateness of the name Carnivore?

  32. This also just in... by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Dude, you can't legislate against stupidity. You can't buy a commercial on national television and shake your finger sternly at the world and say "stop being stupid!" and suddenly all of the suckers disappear off the face of the earth.

    You and I would walk by a game of three card monty and laugh. A rural teenage tourist would possibly be suckered in and lose $20. That's why you still see that game on the street. It works, and it always will.

    "There's a sucker born every minute" as Barnum would say.

    What about the elderly, who might be losing their faculties and are preyed on by these folks? Is it still the victim's fault in your eyes? Blame the victim, blame the victim. "Look at what she was wearing! She deserved to be raped." How does that sound?

    The point is, if you are in a position of greater knowledge, looking at a group of people with less knowledge and saying "stop being a bunch ignorant fools!" doesn't do a dang thing for anyone, doc, except maybe for your feeling of self-righteousness, sorry to break it to you. Ironically, your attitude reveals a naivete about how the world works, similar to other forms of naivete that suckers of scam-artists possess.

    "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

    In your book is it "fool me any time, shame on me"?

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:This also just in... by jgerman · · Score: 2
      Look at what she was wearing! She deserved to be raped." How does that sound?



      It sounds like a horrible analogy here's why: She had something done TO her, based on what whe was wearing, she was passive. The idiots that click on the spam link are commiting active stupidity, if the hypothetical she walked into a sex offenders anonymous meeting wearing nothing but her panties it would be more akin to patronizing spammers.


      Of course even the PC cries of outrage over the "look what she's wearing argument" have their problem. Certainly a person's clothing is no excuse to abuse them, howver Dave Chepelle said it best: "Ok you're not a whore, but you're for damn sure wearing a whore's uniform".


      I'm not trying to justify spammers, but when people actively do stupid things, I'm not going to feel sorry for them.

      --
      I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
    2. Re:This also just in... by geekoid · · Score: 2

      "There's a sucker born every minute" as Barnum would say.

      actually, a competitor od Barnums said that, not Barnum.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  33. Link to FTC's own press release by Seth+Finkelstein · · Score: 5, Informative
    The FTC's own press release is at

    http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/04/spam.htm

    Plenty of further links to PDF's of the FTC's spam actions.

    Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

  34. After years, the gov't responds! by Infonaut · · Score: 2

    Wait a minute.. are you sure this wasn't supposed to be posted on April Fool's Day? ;-)

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  35. Interesting bit of history by Rogerborg · · Score: 2

    Back in 1997, I started forwarding every piece of fraudulent spam that I received to the ftc. By that, I mean stuff about pyramid schemes, tax evasion and all the "send me your bank details so I can deposit $100 beelyeeon dollars", clearly labelled with a stock header that identified it as a consumer complaint. Can you guess the result?

    The FTC told my ISP to disconnect me for spamming them.

    Not once did they respond to my emails personally. If they'd provided (at that time) decent online contact details, I would gladly have used them. If they'd told me to stop - once - I would. They didn't. They just ignored me for a few months, then went crying to my online momma. Fortunately, the techie at my ISP who informed me of their complaint saw the funny side, and told them to get lost, but I stopped sending the emails out of courtesy.

    So, OK, give them the benefit of the doubt, but bear in mind that they might be soliciting, but it doesn't necessarily follow that they're listening. Quite apart from the resource problem, unless they've been beaten hard with a hell of a big clue-by-four in the tech section, this might turn out to be no more than a PR exercise, just collecting metrics that will get filed away until their next budget pitch. Just a thought.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  36. Spamcop by rhizome · · Score: 2

    I thought Spamcop was a good idea until I realized that spammers were including the To: addresses in the bodies of spam. This is roughly equivalent to just replying to the email, since many times complaints will make it back to the spammers. I don't use them anymore.

    --
    When I was a kid, we only had one Darth.
  37. I'm in trouble now... by TheFlyingGoat · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dang it... I just sent you an email telling you about a great new product to grow your penis at least 2". I thought you really could use it, and now I'm going to get in trouble with the FTC. :(

    --
    You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
  38. Libertarian response? by Hard_Code · · Score: 2

    So, what do libertarians think about this? Isn't the market supposed to regulate itself?

    --

    It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
    1. Re:Libertarian response? by aozilla · · Score: 2

      So, what do libertarians think about this? Isn't the market supposed to regulate itself?

      If it goes over the internet, it shouldn't be illegal. It can however be used as evidence of real world illegal activies.

      --
      ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
    2. Re:Libertarian response? by Steve+B · · Score: 2

      The market is based on property rights. When someone violates those rights by theft (in this case, theft of bandwidth) and fraud (show me one spam that does not have one or more of the following: 1)a deceptive subject line, 2)a lying claim that the recipient opted in for it, 3)a bogus "unsubscribe" option, and/or 4)some form of false advertising within the message itself), a crime is committed and punishment is appropriate.

      --
      /. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
  39. Do we really want the stupid people gone? by nobodyman · · Score: 2

    Seems like a good idea at first, but when you think it through you realize that it's all relative. "stupid" is defined by anything that's lower than the average IQ.

    If you instantly got rid of anyone more stupid than you... you'd be the one considered stupid. Think about it. That's why I hang out at the casino. Honest.

  40. Re:ppl need to wise up by Cheeze · · Score: 2, Insightful

    actually, you're wrong. the cost of sending 100 e-mails is the same as sending 100,000 or 1,000,000 e-mails. i can write up some crappy scam right now, that would cost me only 5 minutes of my time, and then send it out to a million random addresses. if one person sends me anything, that is all profit. sure, if that person didn't send me anything, i didn't make any money, but there's always a sucker out there. for the low price of $10 i can make it so you don't receive any spam.

    --
    Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
  41. Opt-out sellers by ruvreve · · Score: 2

    So what about the 'spammers' that offer an opt-out solution but as soon as you remove yourself from their list they sell your email address to another company or sign you up for 3 additional 'newsletters' about how to lose 30 lbs in 3 days.

    I've tested this with brand new email accounts. Sign up for 1 slightly dis-credible newsletter amd then remove yourself. See how many emails you get in the next week or so.

  42. Re:"we don't have to spend our own money"?? by Kamel+Jockey · · Score: 2

    Uh, where the fuck do you think the government gets its money? From taxes on the us!!

    Exactly... and considering how many problems we have going on in the world right about now, let's see... here's a quick count:

    • Terrorists crashing planes into buildings
    • The middle east is about to go to heck
    • We may have yet another oil embargo
    • We are fighting a global war against terrorists who will stop at nothing to kill us all
    • The economy is in the toilet

    As much as I personally hate having to sift through spam and press the "Block Sender, Delete, Yes" commands every day, I really don't think something as trivial as fighting spam should be at the top of the government's priority list right now. There are already plenty of resources available to end users to fight spam if they wish to use them. Besides, even as much of a minor inconvenience that spam is, it has never killed anyone.

    --
    In case of fire, do not use elevator. Use water!
  43. It's better this way, really. by diablovision · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The point is that there are enough checks and balances to slow down the legislative process so that far-reaching, encroaching legislation doesn't show up overnight. How would you like the alternative? One day a group of lawmakers decide to outlaw mouthwash. Next day, it's a law, and people are getting thrown in jail for it. Then it takes years to overthrow it, people have their lives severely impacted, etc.

    The whole structure of our government is to balance power to protect the people from harmful government interference. Part of this is slowing down the legislative process, allowing time for deliberation and compromise between the branches of government.

    It really is more for your protection than you think.

    --
    120 characters isn't enough to explain it.
  44. Re:We are still flipping the bill by aozilla · · Score: 2

    I would pay an extra $50 a year to receive less Spam

    For $50 a year I will personally go through all your email and delete the spam. Deal?

    --
    ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
  45. Much spam is international by peter303 · · Score: 2

    I see signatures from Russia, Singapore, etc. These are the newcomers. The smarter guys are still from abroad, but remail.

  46. micro-tax on email to solve problem by peter303 · · Score: 2

    If the governement taxed email at one cent a message, it would hardly dent legitimate users. However, that would be fatal to spam/scammers.

  47. Good, but not good enough by dh003i · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a start. But it doesn't go far enough. The real problem with SPAM isn't that alot of it is scams or cheap porno get-your-dick-sucked come ons. The real problem with SPAM is that it STEALS OUR BANDWIDTH. By being responsible for 30% of the traffic on the internet, SPAM steals the true potential of the internet from us all. OUR Internet is slowed down 30% because of SPAM.

    I am a moderate Libertarian, but this is something where the market can't regulate itself. There are many such situations, where the market doesn't regulate itself on par with the ideal. M$ is one such example.

    In this particular case, SPAM, it doesn't matter if everyone blocks it out using filtering that won't even d/l SPAM from the server. REGARDLESS of whether or not YOU block out SPAM, its still stealing from YOU. Because your ISP's have to devote huge amounts of their resources to sending SPAM around, they put the tab on your bill. Furthermore, its still slowing down the Net at large, and ultimately you, whether or not you download it. This is my proposal:

    PREAMBLE: Any violations of these statutes can result in jail time and severe fines paid to the state, the individual harmed, and the individual's ISP. The following proposal applies, unless otherwise stated, to E-MAIL, FAX, and the TELEPHONE. SPAM in all of these areas SHIFTS almost ALL of the cost of advertising from the ADVERTISER, to US and OUR ISP.

    (1) What's needed is an OPT IN ONLY system. ONLY people who OPT IN get sent stuff from organizations.

    (2) Furthermore, the OPT IN should have to be exclusive; opting in to receive e-mail from IBM NEVER gives them the right to let their "partners" send you crap. If they want to let their partners send you crap, they should have to contact you, explaning which partners they want you to let send you stuff, and what those partners do. Misrepresentation of this information should be considered a violation.

    (3) Unsolicited solicitations encouraging people to OPT IN are SPAM themselves. That is, if some organization (i.e., bigdicks.com) sends you an unsolicited "one time" request to "opt in" -- irrelevant whether that request is text-only or not -- its SPAM and a violation.

    (4) That said, the only legal way to propose to someone that they opt-in would be if they went to your website (and you had an opt-in option on your site) or requested information from you on opting in and you sent it to them. BUT, such opt-in options MUST state how large the OPT-IN proposal is in KB or MB accurate to 99%.

    (5) Any Opt-in proposals (either on the website or ones send by e-mail/fax/phone) must state the following about the commercial communication that consumers are opting into. (1) How frequently they send their communications, or on what bases [i.e., is it once every month? Or does it go by "whenver there's news"?] (2) How large is the average communication that is sent, plus or minus standard deviation? (3) Opt-in proposals must also state accurately what the communication sent is about. Intentional or unintentional misrepresentation of ANY of these pieces of information is a violation.

    (6) Said information in (5) must be updated at every new communication, correcting for that communication.

    (7) All such solicited communications are to include clear removal instructions. In ALL cases, the option to remove MUST be presented such that the individual need only respond with REMOVE in the subject field. The removal must be immediate, or quick enough such that the individual gets no more communications from that entity.

    (8) All such communications are to include an appropriate 3 letter header: Adv, Upd, or Nws. Adv applies for any commercial entity trying to sell you something. Upd applies for an update on a situation or software (i.e., an available upgrade). Nws applies for news (i.e., the stuff slashdot sends my e-mail).

    (9) This law is not intented to cover the communications of private INDIVIDUALS, but ONLY of organizations.

    1. Re:Good, but not good enough by jgerman · · Score: 2
      The real problem with SPAM is that it STEALS OUR BANDWIDTH. By being responsible for 30% of the traffic on the internet, SPAM steals the true potential of the internet from us all. OUR Internet is slowed down 30% because of SPAM


      Man pretty long winded, I'd have read the whole thing if you weren't wrong in the first couple of sentences. Even if Spam is responsible for 30% of internet traffic, and I don't know where you got that number or if it's verifiable but the number is unimportant. The internet is not 30% slower because of it. Number one, volume does not relate directly to speed, two your assumming that there is more potential volume than can be currently handled by the internet, since no one knows 1) the volume potential of the net as a whole, or 2) the potential traffic that is held up waiting for a chance to transmit you can't make that claim.

      --
      I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
    2. Re:Good, but not good enough by AnotherBlackHat · · Score: 2
      30%? Spam doesn't even consume 1% of "our" bandwidth. The average person receives less than 50K bytes of spam a day. Even with a 33K baud dialup line, it takes less 15 seconds to download. Assuming that ISP oversells it's bandwidth 50 to 1, that's still only 0.02%
      The major cost of dealing with spam for an ISP isn't bandwidth, it's dealing with people who complain about it. Even so, it probably adds less than a nickel a month to your bill.

      The bandwidth killers for email are viruses, then mailing lists. Spam actually comes after normal email in terms of bandwidth usage.

      While I'm not opposed to legislation in principle, I'm opposed to your proposal for the following reasons;
      • It does not specify what the penalties for violating the law would be.
      • It does not mention who would be responsible for making the determination that the policy had been violated.
      • It's not possible to determine the size of an email with 99% accuracy unless you don't count the headers.
      • It's a lot more complex than it needs to be.
      • It doesn't prevent spam from individuals. Companies could therefore hire individuals to spam you.


      I could list more reasons, but I'm only willing to feed trolls so much in one sitting.

      Spam Wolf, the best spam blocking vaporware yet!
    3. Re:Good, but not good enough by dh003i · · Score: 2

      Doesn't matter how much of our bandwidth SPAM is stealing. Its stealing our bandwidth and what we pay for. Even if its only a nickel.

      Furthermore, even if you disconsider the bandwidth, it DOES steal our storage space on servers. My Road Runner e-mail server stores 20MB of e-mail. When people SPAM me 4MB porno e-mails at a time, even if I have mechanisms not to download any of that and delete it from the server, its still using space that I PAID FOR. If I happen to usually leave mail on the server (so I can get it later if an accident happens), that's a major problem, because it could use up MY space.

      Penalties. I'd suggest stricter fines than currently exist. $1,000 to $5,000 to be paid to the spamee's ISP, the spammer's ISP, the spamee, and the government.

      Who's responsible for determining the policy is violated. Since the policy would allow for both lawsuit and legal criminal cases, judges would decide. A claims judge would decide the fine. A judge who deals with criminal matters would decide for the criminal side of the law.

      Size of e-mail. I meant disconsidering the header. Perhaps 99% was too strict. The point is, people should know if they're getting into 1KB, 10KB, 100KB, 1MB, or 10MB SPAM.

      Complexity. If you can find a way to simplify it, I'd be glad to hear it. The goal is to punish real spammers, but not punish someone on alt.abortion who e-mails a poster without solicitation (unless that poster then e-mails back requesting no further e-mails, and the initial e-mailer continues to e-mail).

      Spam from individuals. I'd suggest that the judge also determine if the individual was acting in a private manner or a commercial/interest manner for an organization. The reason I excluded individuals is because I don't want a pro-choice person who e-mails a pro-life person on alt.abortion with an opinion to be hit with violating the SPAM law. You're welcome to make suggestions.

      Finally, I've noticed you completely ignored the fact that I stated that FAX SPAM is also a problem. In fact, FAX SPAM is an even bigger problem than e-mail SPAM. Most people have slow fax machines, and it takes quite a while to process a SPAM fax; in the meanwhile, other useful or important faxes can't get through. Furthermore, even if it can process them and print them quickly, it doesn't matter. the fucks are still using MY INK and MY PAPER to do THEIR ADVERTISING, not to mention MY TIME.

      Maybe it doesn't make you mad that unscrupulous advertisers transfer most of THEIR COST of ADVERTISING to YOU. But it does bother ME. Furthermore, all you people who yack about "private" solutions fail to note that many many FAX machines don't have options to filter out certain faxes.

    4. Re:Good, but not good enough by AnotherBlackHat · · Score: 2
      Doesn't matter how much of our bandwidth SPAM is stealing. Its stealing our bandwidth and what we pay for. Even if its only a nickel.


      Try re-reading my post again. Spam isn't what costs,
      the less than a nickel cost is dealing with people who complain about spam.

      Making spam illegal would dramatically raise the price ISPs pay for dealing with spam.
      That price would be passed on to the consumer, and we'd all pay for it in the end.

      Would you vote for a law that stopped spam, but raised your taxes $12 a year?
      What about $35?
      How about $100?
      What if it didn't work very well, but still raised your taxes?

      Spam Wolf, the best spam blocking vaporware yet!

    5. Re:Good, but not good enough by AnotherBlackHat · · Score: 2
      That is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard.

      Somehow, according to your spam-happy ass, its the CUSTOMERS who are making their costs higher, not the SPAMMERS?


      I didn't say spammers weren't costing the customer, I said that customers who are
      irate about spam cost ISPs more than spammers cost ISPs.

      I know it seems twisted, but yes, the customers who are complaining
      are raising the costs more than the spammer is. Ralph Nader probably
      cost the car companies a lot more than the product liability suits did too.
      And by complaining in a big way, he forced cars to be made with lots
      of safety features that cost money, and raised the prices across the board.

      Just like Nader, the spam complainers are raising the price of doing business.
      That doesn't mean they are bad, or that I don't admire them for doing it,
      Just that I'm willing to call a spade a spade.

      People who argue against spam using unreasonable figures, and stupid, untrue
      rhetoric that they copied from an anti-spam web site without even a tiny amount
      of critical thinking aren't doing the rest us any favors.

      Spam is tiny. The average spam is between 5 and 6K, depending on header sizes.
      You can store thousands on a 20 meg account. No, it's not free, but the costs
      are small and going down. I probably get a larger volume of spam than most,
      but it still costs me more to throw away the junk mail I get, then to deal with
      the spam.

      I haven't commented on junk faxes, because there is nothing I want to say about them.
      47USC227 was an interesting attempt to outlaw them, but I haven't
      seen much reduction in junk faxes as a result.

      Getting a reasonable law against spam of any form is a lot of work.
      I applaud you for working on the task, and look forward to more of the same.
      If you think I'm being an asshole, wait til you run into someone who is actually pro spam.

      -- this is not a .sig
  48. This should read "Cracking down" by trailerparkcassanova · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Cracking the whip" means to work harder, as in produce more spam.

  49. Life imitates art. by ptbarnett · · Score: 2, Funny
    "The FTC and its law enforcement partners are sending a signal to the scammer: We're out there surfing the Net, reading our spam and working together to stop Internet scams," said J. Howard Beales III, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

    Howard Beale was the volatile news anchor in Network who exhorted his audience to "...go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell":

    I'm mad as hell, and I'm not not going to take this anymore!

  50. Re:ppl need to wise up by Cheeze · · Score: 2

    it's not necessarily the only business the spammers do. usually they buy a list from a reputable company (or not) and then just spam the customers of another company. since there is no real (easy) way to track who you got the mail from, you can't tell the company that sold your e-mail address to stop it. the best way to do it is to setup a real e-mail account with a filter that bounces all the mail back to the owner. that way, when someone spams it, they get the spam back. with forged headers though, it's an empty victory.

    --
    Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
  51. This is bad news for my email reading service by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 2

    I run an email reading service, where I charge $500 for reading spam sent to me after I advertise my business on USENET with a post that includes its unmunged email address. (It usually takes some detective work and litigation to collect the money.) If the government clamps down on this market, I will have to close my spam-reading sweatshop and all my hardworking employees will be out of a job. And this will certainly not have a good outcome for the American "consumer". (I don't know what that means but it sounds good, doesn't it?)
    Why is the government intent on destroying the American businessman? This is nothing less than economic terrorism. Once I start making a comfortable living, the govermnent has the responsibity of making sure that I never have to change my business model. Isn't this in the Constitution or something?
    I guess I have to send one of my $500 checks to Senator Fritz. That might buy me a bill that makes it illegal to have an email account that does not receive at least 200 federally approved unsolicited commercial emails per day. This would be great for my business and would help promote new markets.

  52. Kill the messenger! by The+Mutant · · Score: 2

    AFAIK, forging return addresses in email is a federal crime and possibly illegal in one or more states.

    On some level (although I'm sure a SlashLawyer might disagree with me) it's the equivalent of wirefraud and I'd like to see the Feds going after that, number one on their list instead of cancer cures and other pesky things.

    Lots of spam would just drop out of sight if those jerks had to include their real email address.

    1. Re:Kill the messenger! by kylus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Lots of spam would just drop out of sight if those jerks had to include their real email address.

      Of course it would. The spammers would be dragged out into the street and hung with nooses made of their own email lists :)

      Seriously though, it's nice in some ways to see that the spam sitution on the net has gotten to a point where the Government can't seem to ignore it anymore. On the other hand, I think it behooves people to help themselves when it comes to spam. Effective use of Procmail can really help a person cut the spam out of their email diets. And with tools like Vipul's Razor, you can help OTHERS avoid getting the same spam in the future.

      --
      --Kylus
      Idiot-proof something, and Life will build a better Idiot.
  53. Where do I sign up? by dcigary · · Score: 2

    Seriously. I would love to work on the "task force" going after spammers. Who do I contact? The FTC? The FBI?

    --
    ...my Karma ran over your Dogma...
  54. Re: Shoot, I can't even unsubscribe from MS! by King_TJ · · Score: 2

    A while ago, I started receiving emails from Microsoft's home advisor web site. I think I visited their site a time or two to look at real-estate listings, but I never recall signing up for any type of email from them.

    Anyway, each time, their messages say I can click on a link to change my preferences (so I no longer receive this email "newsletter"). I've tried this at least 4 times now, and still - I get spammed with more of their mail.

    Now, honestly, I don't think a company the size of Microsoft is interested in purposely spamming people. (The negative press that would generate makes it a very bad idea.) Instead, I think their automated system for unsubscribing is just buggy/defective (or overloaded at the times I'm trying to use it).

  55. Foreign spams/scams by Eric+Green · · Score: 2
    Yeah, that's a problem. I had a couple of youngsters in jolly olde England who got upset with me because I called them scammer spammers, and they jumped all up and down and turned red in the face and blew a few gaskets trying to harass me. Thus why I am now the official owner of a "sucks" domain :-).

    The thing about foreign scams, though, is that they are by nature limited in what they can do to/for you. The foreign scam I detail makes a number of ludicrous claims for their product (claims which are impossible for any product to fulfill, much less a piece of Visual BASIC bloatware being sold for three times what it's worth), but none of this will cause you any physical harm. You might lose your hard drive if the paranoid program decides you aren't a licensed user (the front man for the guys who put out the program is certifiable, often spewing paranoid and delusional rantings about anybody who has ever criticized his behavior or his program), but you aren't going up dead or anything. While I've heard that the FTC is investigating these particular people, I have mixed emotions about that. There's far worse scams out there, some of which could cause physical harm. Bilking the gullible for $100 beyond what the product is worth via deceptive claims and exaggerations is hardly my idea of a top priority for government enforcement -- going after the dangerous scams, or the ones that take people for all their lives savings, has to be top priority.

    -E

    --
    Send mail here if you want to reach me.
  56. Large corporations and scams by Eric+Green · · Score: 2
    The deal with large corporations is that they rarely run outright scams. They generally push the envelope insofar as what constitutes a deceptive claim (or not), but not outright scams, Enron excluded of course :-).

    Scam artists who run outright scams (as vs. the Herbalife sort who do sell a product, sorta, kinda) tend to be small fry by nature because if they get big enough to pull in megabucks, they attract regulators like a cow pattie attracts flies. The fact that the online scammers that the FTC is going after are all small fry is a product of the effectiveness of the FTC (and simple bad publicity) at handling outright scams -- bigger fry have already been smacked down.

    -E

    --
    Send mail here if you want to reach me.
  57. Re:"we don't have to spend our own money"?? by Steve+B · · Score: 2
    I really don't think something as trivial as fighting spam should be at the top of the government's priority list right now.

    My allergies are bad enough as it is this time of year. Please remove your straw man.

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    /. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
  58. Re: Shoot, I can't even unsubscribe from MS! by Suppafly · · Score: 2

    Yeh, I had the same problem with amazon.com a while back.. They had a contest where you enter your email address to win a ps2.

    Now, once the contest was over, the email list turned into basically a ps2-buy-stuff-from-amazon.com email list..

    So I clicked their unsubscribe link at the bottom.. which to took me to amazon and told me to login using my amazon.com login to change my prefs..

    I had at that time never bought or done any business with amazon other than signing up for their ps2 contest, so obviously I had no amazon.com account to login with to change my prefs..

    Finally after months of emailing practically everyone on their abuse team and customer support team (You get a new person answering every email), I got someone who was smart enough to understand the problem and remove me.

  59. But an alias will be great... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

    Hey, by placing these addresses on a public site like /., they are likely to get harvested by the spammers...

    Not likely. All but the most half-assed of spammers will filter their list to remove *@*.gov, webmaster@*, postmaster@*, abuse@*, root@*, and so on.

    But alias processing will not be detected.

    I have a number of non-accounts that somehow got onto spammer lists - probably due to somebody mis-filling-out forms - that are currently aliased to /dev/null. I think I'll change the alias to uce@ftc.gov and auto-forward them all.

    I HAD been thinking about forwarding it to the congresscritters' emails. But this might actually get some response.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  60. How they get around it... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2
    The FBI isn't stupid enough to "drag net" or "trawl" (indiscriminate monitoring). In fact you **COULD** argue before the judge that it is the FBI agent that should be before the judge because IIRC trawling is a felony for any federal law enforcement officer caught doing it.

    Law enforcement agencies routinely get around that sort of things as follows:

    Fish with an illegal wiretap, until you find something interesting.

    Call in an "anonymous tip" to the guy at the next desk.

    Get a warrant for the interesting thing on the basis of the "anonymous tip from a usually reliable source".

    Put in the "legal" wiretap. Or just break in and sieze some evidence. (And if you can't find any but you REALLY don't like the guy, or don't want your own butt in a sling, plant a little.)

    While I don't know if the FBI is doing any of that these days, they have a long history of doing it that has been repeatedly exposed. (Of course you ALWAYS have only the old stuff that was exposed - because the current stuff hasn't been exposed yet. So there's no real way to tell whether an agency has finally cleaned up its act and stayed clean, except by discovering much later that it hadn't.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  61. Since it's just like FAXing an advertisement ... by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

    Whatever happened to the federal bill to extend the anti-unsolicited-FAX law to spam?

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  62. Fixing spam from non-spammer companies by billstewart · · Score: 2
    Most of the spam you get comes from Real Spammers or from companies that hired real spammers to Get Customers Fast (either deliberately or cluelessly.) But some of it comes from real companies that publish real contact information - even Microsoft should be reachable, because you can find lots of real addresses there and send them mail saying "Please help me find the people who can turn this off" or "I'd like to talk to your supervisor"... If that means a phone call to Mr. Bill Himself, his front people should be able to get you to the right organization.

    I've had fun with spammers this week - a company (ancestry.com, aka myfamily.com) that was once legitimate seems to have hired several Direct Email Marketing Companies to promote them, using companies who do the dishonest "you must have opted-in somehow" strategy but using their own servers and leaving real addresses on them. I've emailed Myfamily.com's venture capitalists, and their PR department, and at least one of the spammer companies sent me back a note about "I'm sorry, we seem to have bought a bad list of names from ____ and we're getting tons of complaints, we'll put you on our block list right away", and in fact I haven't gotten any more mail from that spamhaus. Now to beat up the next one's ISPs...

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  63. Laws that don't work by billstewart · · Score: 2
    California, and several other jurisdictions, have laws requiring spam to include the phrase "ADV:" in the Subject line. I've probably received 3-4 spams like that in the last, umm, couple of years. The long-ago-proposed Senate Bill 1618 was much more effective - it was never passed, but for a while many spammers would put "S.1618 says this email is NOT SPAM", and my email filters could happily trash any mail saying "S.1618" in it :-)

    Laws against cracking machines on the internet have more effect - remember the userfriendly.org This Is Not A Denial-Of-Service Attack? Fortunately or unfortunately, it's not legal to treat most US-based spammers appropriately :-) It may be legal in the US to treat Korean spammers appropriately, but most of the entertaining techniques violate your ISP's Acceptable Use Policies to a much larger extent than SPAM does.

    So that means you're stuck playing by the rules - contacting spammers' ISPs, contacting their customers (for the commercial spammers), contacting their customers' ISPs. For US-based spammers, you may have grounds for a small-claims lawsuit. Even if it's tough to make your "$200 price for evaluating potential-spam email messages" bill get paid, you may be able to find some excuse to sue them, and Small Claims Court is inexpensive for you and may cost them travel costs, may let you do discovery to get their customer lists and the lists of vendors who sold them your address (if they didn't harvest it themselves), and enough rounds of getting thrown off ISPs and dragged into 1000 cities' local courts can really get somebody's attention.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks