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Ask ISP Owner Barry Shein About the Spam Wars

Posted by Roblimo on from the spam-spam-everywhere-a-spam- dept.

Spam sucks. But it's worse for ISPs than for the rest of us, because they get bounces and complaints and other behind-the-scenes spam-caused messes the rest of us don't see. AOL talks of spam as "public enemy number one." Barry Shein, who started (and still runs) the world's first full-service dialup ISP, likens spammers to organized criminals, and calls spam "an organized, vicious, sociopathic thing" in this article, which spurred an interesting Slashdot discussion. So what should we do about spam? Ask Barry. One question per post, please. We'll post his answers to 10 of the highest-moderated questions sometime in the next week or so.

8 of 594 comments (clear)

  1. What's your e-mail address? by TedCheshireAcad · · Score: 4, Funny

    What is your e-mail address? I promise I will not sell it to third parties.

  2. Kill 'em all.... by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you could meet a spammer, what would you say? What would you do? What caliber would you use? Would you want someone to do it for you? Is $10,000 a head too much?

  3. Fine, I'll ask by swingkid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Would you like to consolidate your student loans while watching my 18 year old roomate take a shower, and then purchase some long distance phone cards?

    1. Re:Fine, I'll ask by gowen · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd love to, but I'm not feeling youthful at the moment, I need to go to the store for inkjet refills, and I've a terrible feeling my penis isn't long enough to satisfy her.

      Actually, only one of the above is true :(

      --
      Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
  4. Re:How to learn to ignore spam.? by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pollution and nuclear waste at least have some benefit to society. Pollution at least means that either someone got to where they needed to go, or some useful product was created. Nuclear waste means that an effecient method of producing electricity was used. Spam just means that someone has a permenant 12-inch stiffy and has given all of their money to Nigeria.

  5. The people need to know! by Noryungi · · Score: 2, Funny
    What is your favourite solution to the Spam problem?

    • small tactical nuke?
    • flamethrower?
    • booby-trapped letters?
    • slow torture by an oriental master?
    • cut head of fav' pet in bed?
    • all relevant personal information posted on a web site such as Slashdot?
    • All of the above?
    • Some other, equally horrible punishment?


    (Disclaimer:of course, this is said firmly tongue in cheek, I don't approve or condone physical violence against spammers, etc. etc. yadda yadda yadda)... =)
    --
    The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
  6. When the revolution comes... by Howard+Beale · · Score: 2, Funny

    who will be up against the wall first?

    A) Spammers
    B) the IRS
    C) Lawyers
    D) Microsoft Lawyers

  7. How Effective is Physcial Threats by linuxislandsucks · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have foudn that once I get a physical mail address to a domain and indicate that I ma 30 minutes away and will visit with my pfist that the spam stops..

    How effective is this type of Physical threat towards spammers?

    Caution: This doesn't work on Nigerian spammers..

    --
    Don't Tread on OpenSource