UK To Hold Public Enquiry On Spam

feepcreature writes "Is something going to be done about email spam at last? In the UK, the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group is to hold a public enquiry into spam. These politicians seem to understand the scale of the spam problem, and they are considering a new global level organization to deal with the Internet, as well as new laws, inter-government action and technical solutions. But will more international bodies help? Would laws work?"

Comments

Re:interesting idea

[spirality]

The tax thing is bad, but requring that any email have a valid return address would be nice for reverse spamming. I've been known to send many copies of huge binaries to people who won't quit spamming me.

Now allowing me, the receiver of spam, to charge the spammer $0.01 for every piece I receive could work.

For example I get spam from that idiot in Africa who wants me to transfer $1 million dollars to some bank account. I hit reply, and say "you owe me a penny. Feel free to transfer it to my paypal account or alternatively you can send me a check."

If you opted for them to send you a check it would cost them probably close to $0.50/email for anyone who requested the penny. Someone who sends millions of emails simply couldn't afford it. Someone who sends just a few, i.e. targets their audience better would be better off, and hell you might even begin to enjoy receiving spam. Even if you opted for the paypal transfer though spamming could become very expensive for them.

This could all work in conjuction with an international spammer registry. You would have to be licensed to spam, provide return addresses, and sign a contract, which would be obligate you to pay the penny in a timely manner upon request.

None of this works without a valid return address though. :)

-Craig.