Slashdot Mirror
Telemarketers Plan Counterattack
Chris Hoofnagle writes "CNN reports that companies who heavily use telemarketing are planning to counterattack consumers with a barrage of spam and junk mail in October, when the new do-not-call registry goes into effect. Slashdotters should be aware that, as well as anti-spam email software, there are tools to avoid junk snail-mail, such as Junkbusters' free Declare, Private Citizen's excellent service and the Postal Service's Prohibitory Order service, which is described at the EPIC privacy page."
I love it, the article has a popunder : )
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
If I took every penis enlargement I've been spammed with, mine would be at least 42,000 inches. What am I supposed to do with that?!
Another slashdotter said it best:
"The best way to avoid spam is to never give out your e-mail address to anyone."
It's good advice. I've been using that method ever since I read that, and it's working beautifully.
Well, ok. First we have RIAA going all out sueing people left and right. Then we have SCO going all out crazy on the OSS and Linux community. Now we have the infamous telemarketing companies "counterattacking" their customers. Next up, grocery stores throwing tomatoes at shoppers.
Businesses are supposed to provide products and services, not shove them down our throats. It is our choice what we buy anyway, isn't it?
Question everything.
"companies who heavily use telemarketing are planning to counterattack consumers with a barrage of spam and junk mail"
Not a problem, as I'm reasonably certain that such tactics will lead them to the promised land of lawsuits, Chapter 11, and finally, Cellblock 6A, which houses Bubba's Fudge-Packing Factory. Spam on dear telemarketers. Spam your way to an 8x10 cell where you can push your wares on a 300lbs man who hasn't seen a woman in 15 years.
-- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
Reach out and touch someone, of course!
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Personally, I don't care much about snail-mail spam. I figure if they're paying for it, the more the merrier. Gives me the chance to use that big, shiny dumpster right by the mailbox.
.. it will save me having to buy all those equally useless newspapers to start the fire with in the cold winters evenings.
Yes, we need a list that includes do not mail, do not e-mail, do not phone and do not send carrier pigeons. This list shall be known as that STFU List.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
<ackbar>It's a trap!</ackbar>
The problem is that there are idiots on both sides of the transaction. P.T. Barnum would be so proud. If said idiot believes he can get rich quick by hiring a spammer to send out 100 million emails for $100 on his behalf, it doesn't matter if there is 0 response. The spams have already gone out, and even if he doesn't try again, there are thousands of other idiots willing to take his place.
If I bought stuff from even 1/1000 of the spam I got, I'd have about 37 college diplomas, a 2 foot long penis and several billion in laundered Nigerian money in my bank account. Alas, it gets caught by my spam filter, so I'm left working really hard for one college diploma, a tiny caucasean penis and almost nothing in my bank account. Thanks a lot, spamassassin >:(
What if the company itself isn't in the US? What if they don't speak ENGLISH? I'm serious- I've gotten Chinese telemarketing calls. I mean, how the hell can there be any chance that they could sell something if I can't even understand them??
La respuesta es simple. Usted necesita encontrar un babelfish y ponerlo en su oído.
Beware, Nugget is watching... See?
Phone: *ring*
Cthulhu: Hello?
JF Lyons: Hi there, Mr. Khooloo, I calling you because I want to give you what you want to eat! Interested?
Cthulhu: Why yes, I am a bit peckish...
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
3. An anonymous death threat. Not directed at me personally, but still it was coming to the family phone number. He informed me that he was "sharpening the knives" among other things.
2. Some chick who wanted me to repair a wheelchair, because that was obviously what I do. (It's not.)
1. Some guy calling from Tokyo and wanted to know if I was interested in the stock market and trading. (I live in Sweden, btw.)
See, it does work.
I didn't want to talk to you anyway...