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Spammer Ducks For Cover

rabidgremlin writes "The New Zealand Herald has an article about a NZ based spammer who has shut up shop after being at the receiving end of an anti-spam campaign. Good riddance I say, but some of his comments ("never intended to break any regulations" and "I'll just stick to search engines and web sites - that's still plenty of fun and money.") had me wondering if he and other spammers are as really naive as the article makes out."

363 comments

  1. Booo-hooo by The+Bungi · · Score: 5, Interesting
    He had received more than 20 phone calls, five of them obscene. [...] he had been subscribed to a gay-dating site and his email address had been added to "tons of email lists". [...] "I have already banned my 5-year-old from answering the phone," he said.

    Well, cry me a river. I'm sure that there are 5-year olds out there whose parents were a bit concerned about their kids receiving penis-enlargement emails and links to porn websites. Oh, and "tons of email lists"... I thought everything these fucks did was "opt-in"? Does he mean to insinuate that that's not the case? Bwahaha.

    Cry me a river indeed. Maybe this is a good way to kill them off.

    1. Re:Booo-hooo by The+Bungi · · Score: 5, Informative

      Oh, and here's one of the abuse-sightings posts that probably did him in (Google thread).

    2. Re:Booo-hooo by Magic+Thread · · Score: 2, Flamebait

      Plenty. What rock have you been living under for the past decade?

    3. Re:Booo-hooo by Aadain2001 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      For every adult who can succesfully operate a computer, there are 20 5-year olds that have been doing just as long as they have, are more comfortable with it, and already signed up for their own hotmail account.

      --
      Space for rent, inquire within
    4. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonym0us+Cow+Herd · · Score: 3, Funny

      My 10 year old (5th grade) has had an e-mail address for several years.

      --
      The price of freedom is eternal litigation.
    5. Re:Booo-hooo by The+Bungi · · Score: 1

      Um, at least two. One in my family, who has his own email address though his dad's (my cousin) dial-up account. He's 5 1/2, going on 6, IIRC.

    6. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My daughter's pre-school (ages 4 to 5) has an iMac for every student. Most 5 year olds know more about operating computers than your average 60 year old, or even your average PHB for that matter.

    7. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this flamebait? Who is he supposed to be flaming?

    8. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course he knows plenty, how else do you think he gets laid??? Sending out hundreds of emails to toddlers saying "SHOW ME YOUR PINK LITTLE COCK OR I'LL CRUSH THIS PUPPY'S SKULL"

    9. Re:Booo-hooo by The+Wicked+Priest · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, that was rich - "20 phone calls, five of them obscene." He sent 100 million (!) messages a day, ALL OF THEM OBSCENE.

      What really saddens me about this story, though, is finding out that someone like this has children.

      --
      Share and Enjoy: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    10. Re:Booo-hooo by Quarters · · Score: 2, Funny
      What really saddens me about this story, though, is finding out that someone like this has children.

      Is that because he has the capability to raise more people with his ammoral views or is it because it proves that spammers get to have sex while UNIX using geeks don't?

    11. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, because someone like him shouldn't be breeding.

    12. Re:Booo-hooo by dipipanone · · Score: 1

      spammers get to have sex while UNIX using geeks don't?

      Why do you assume that spammers aren't also unix using geeks?

    13. Re:Booo-hooo by TheOtherChimeraTwin · · Score: 3, Funny
      spammers get to have sex while UNIX using geeks don't?
      Why do you assume that spammers aren't also unix using geeks?

      You missed the part about spammers having sex, didn't you?

    14. Re:Booo-hooo by robogun · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What is absolutely sickening is that this POS reproduced... his hellspawn child has probably already absorbed his father's amorality, if not by observation then by direct instruction.

      This doubtless continues the chain -- the spammer's parents failed to give their child a conscience and a soul, probably for reasons of lacking those characteristics themselves.

      Much like families where domestic violence is a tradition, we can be certain we have not seen the last of this from this family.

    15. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Lamest. Sig. Ever.

    16. Re:Booo-hooo by Quarters · · Score: 1

      Oooh, tough crowd. I meant for that to be funny, not a troll.

    17. Re:Booo-hooo by bytesplit · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I was thinking the saaaaaame thing about all of these retards here, that get to make a good story go bad with their rediculously idiotic comments and flames. The majority of these dimwits probably haven't even discovered their own penises yet.

      --
      real geeks hate soap operas.
    18. Re:Booo-hooo by The+Zody · · Score: 1

      I got my first email addy at eight.

    19. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      From google groups article:

      ...Ministry of Health
      Medsafe manager Clare van der Lem said making a therapeutic claim -
      "Gain 3 inches to your penis, with VP-RX pills!" - was a breach of the
      Medicines Act if the product had not been assessed through the usual
      route for approval of medicines.

      A "therapeutic claim" was defined as anything purporting to "make
      better, improve symptoms or cure", said van der Lem. Companies
      breaching the law can be fined up to $100,000.

      Individuals doing the same face a maximum fine of $20,000, with prison
      a possibility.

    20. Re:Booo-hooo by gujo-odori · · Score: 1

      Where it gets really bad is if you have a 60-year-old PHB :-)

    21. Re:Booo-hooo by numberthree · · Score: 1

      Tell us how you really feel!

      --
      This guy. This $#!%^ guy.
    22. Re:Booo-hooo by jemfinch · · Score: 1, Insightful

      What I find absolutely sickening is that in a world where people starve just blocks from executives and companies worth millions of dollars; where suicide bombers and terrorists and assassins run rampant; where an entire continent goes without AIDS drugs to satisfy the intellectual property "rights" of companies in the US, you're "sickened" by the guy who sends you email you don't want.

      Amazing.

      Jeremy

    23. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Happy Ninth Birthday from all of us here at Slashdot!

    24. Re:Booo-hooo by Seindal · · Score: 1

      I my family we give the kids an email address on the family domain the day they're born. We've been doing so for several years :-)

      I must say, that there have only been two births in the period, but 100% of them got an email on the day of their birth.

      --
      René Seindal
    25. Re:Booo-hooo by ghostprovidence · · Score: 1

      guilty until proven innocent? this kind of knee-jerk thinking is dangerous. i know we hate spammers and all that, but lay off the 5-year-olds until they've actually done something wrong, ok?

    26. Re:Booo-hooo by suss · · Score: 2, Funny

      Much like families where domestic violence is a tradition, we can be certain we have not seen the last of this from this family.

      I bet his kids are trying to sell herbal viagra to the other kids in the schoolyard as we speak...

      Spammers' Kid: "Wanna have a big stiff weewee?"
      Other 5 year old: "Why?"
      Spammers' Kid: "Ummm... I don't know... i'm 5"

    27. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, shut the fuck up. Like a person can only be sickened by one thing at a time, and only by the particular injustices that you deem worthy. You're sickened by some stupid post on /., they're sickened by spammers, blah blah blah. Quit fucking whining.

      WON'T SOMEONE *PLEASE* THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!?

    28. Re:Booo-hooo by thales · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So what are YOU doing about the hungry and AIDs cases? Just Boo-hooing, or just trying to shift the cost to "executives and companies worth millions of dollars"? Or are you actually pulling money out of your OWN pocket to buy food and drugs for these people? If the Whinners of the world put THIER money where thier mouths are, instead of trying to get thier hands in others pockets then a lot of these problems would be lessened if not solved. Of course that assumes that the hungry and sick are a real concern, and not just an excuse to attack those who have more money.

      --
      Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est
    29. Re:Booo-hooo by sketerpot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The presence of other bad things in the world doesn't make something less bad. Spammers still suck.

    30. Re:Booo-hooo by princewally · · Score: 1

      My three year old doesn't have an email address, but he does know how to start up the computer, and get his games running. He can open and close windows. He can even help his grandmother when she uses the computer.

      --

      -
      "Vengeance is fine," sayeth the Lord.
    31. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And now after all this spam e-mails this fucking moron trying to find a pity? Give me a break! He feels much better because he shut down his business? What kind of crap it this? He suddenly figured out that he has a dughter? What he was thinking about when he earned hundreds of bucks a day? About daughter? About how bad is what he is doing? Do not fucking make me laugh!

    32. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing. I'm too busy trying to pay off school loans, a car payment, a mortgage, save a couple grand so if I lose my job I have more than 2 weeks to find another, and after all that I'm hoping to save a bit for wedding and child expenses. My current loans won't be paid off for another 6 years, and I'll be 34. Hmm, about time to be married and have kids.

      But, if I had a couple hundred grand or more (hell, even if I somehow got 100 grand to pay off my current debts), I'd have money left over after providing the necessities to donate. No, I don't have cable, and I haven't bought a computer upgrade in over a year (and that was just a larger hard drive).

      So yeah, if my morals say that people should help out their fellow man (after ensuring they're not suffering too much by doing so), then I think it's ok to complain about rich people not doing so, even if I can't afford to do it myself.

    33. Re:Booo-hooo by zedmelon · · Score: 1

      He's not trying or convicting the child; he's merely observing the high probability that the child will learn from his parents, just like we all do.

      --
      Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
    34. Re:Booo-hooo by devilspgd · · Score: 1

      Q: Do you need a larger penis?
      A: I was just born. I don't even know how to talk, where am I gonna get a date?
      Q: Do you need bigger breasts?

      It just goes downhill from there I'd imagine.

      --
      Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to phish...
    35. Re:Booo-hooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please post his home and mobile numbers here.
      Lars

    36. Re:Booo-hooo by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      How about I am sickend by the fact that there are people out there starving who would be happy to work for an honest days wage that would put a roof over their heads and food on the table, and yet assholes like this make a fucking MINT abusing the net and sending mail that nobody wants - and generally being dishonest whiney snots about it.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    37. Re:Booo-hooo by nutznboltz · · Score: 1

      "Daddy? What's a Penis Enlarger?"

  2. Old sayings by crmartin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    1) Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
    2) Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.

    1. Re:Old sayings by dolo666 · · Score: 1

      All malice can be explained by stupidity. Why not just say, "never ascribe to malice"?

    2. Re:Old sayings by Russ+Steffen · · Score: 1

      Corallary to rule 2: The truely malicious are seldom stupid.

    3. Re:Old sayings by MegaFur · · Score: 1

      All malice can be explained by stupidity. Why not just say, "never ascribe to malice"?

      Because that's not how the saying goes. Hanlon's Razor says "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

      --
      Furry cows moo and decompress.
  3. yeah... by edrugtrader · · Score: 3, Funny

    and how does this guy plan on marketing his new websites?

    "well, i figure i'll just use my vast email lists and invite everyone to check them out... that can't be illegal, can it?"

    --
    MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
    1. Re:yeah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      how is this redundant!?!? it's one of the first 10 posts! (none of the others have anything to do with this.) Wake up mods!

    2. Re:yeah... by karnal · · Score: 3, Funny

      Quote:

      that can't be illegal, can it?"

      --
      WANT TO BUY ILLEGAL DRUGS ONLINE? - EDRUGTRADER.COM! [edrugtrader.com]

      Wow.

      **lameness filter bypass**

      --
      Karnal
    3. Re:yeah... by The+Wicked+Priest · · Score: 4, Interesting

      He was talking about gaming the search engines -- you know, that silly shit where scores of irrelevant words that are likely to show up in someone's search are added to a page in an attempt to get it more views. This is what he aims to fall back on, since spam backfired on him. Honest work is right out.

      --
      Share and Enjoy: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    4. Re:yeah... by Torne · · Score: 2, Informative

      Uhm.. it's a *game*. You buy and sell virtual drugs to make a virtual profit. Try checking the link before you rant. =)

  4. 20 phone calls? by Champaign · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, the guys sends millions of e-mail messages, then he closes up shop after getting 20 unsolicited phone calls.

    Guess that's what you call "can dish it out, can't take it"...

    1. Re:20 phone calls? by Magic+Thread · · Score: 0, Troll

      Except that phone calls are disruptive, because they actually make something ring and you can't filter them out. Get a sense of proportion, why don't you?

    2. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      20 vs 100 Million. For every 5million emails he sent he recived ONE call. Methinks he got the better end of the deal there.

    3. Re:20 phone calls? by rmohr02 · · Score: 1

      There was much more than that. I'd list it, but it's mentioned in the paragraphs following the part you chose to read.

    4. Re:20 phone calls? by GammaTau · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Wow, the guys sends millions of e-mail messages, then he closes up shop after getting 20 unsolicited phone calls.

      Actually that sounds like a good strategy. If even a tiny group of all the people who receive spam would give feedback by making a phone call, I think it could make many spammers to reconsider their business. Assuming that you get the right person on the line, it will take them a few seconds or minutes per each caller (as opposed to a mail bounce or a mail reply that won't ever be read by a real person) plus they will get a fair share of verbal abuse they deserve.

    5. Re:20 phone calls? by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 1, Insightful

      He could ask to be taken off of the caller's call list. Just like the opt-out, ask everyone with your e-mail to opt-out you.

    6. Re:20 phone calls? by kudos200 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      what if, instead, everyone called collect? the phone would still ring and become an incredible annoyance, but at no cost to us, the poor, proletariat spammees.

      i know i don't feel like paying just to be an annoyance, but maybe i'd do it for free.

      seriously, there's got to be a way to make spam end. i sure hope so.

    7. Re:20 phone calls? by Impotent_Emperor · · Score: 1

      A spammer might not take phone calls seriously enough. That's why I'd prefer to a put a horses head in his bed. If he doesn't get that message, well, then he must be McBrided.

    8. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      It's even worse than that, he sent as many as 100 million spams per day. And got 20 phone calls total.

    9. Re:20 phone calls? by imnoteddy · · Score: 4, Funny
      If even a tiny group of all the people who receive spam would give feedback by making a phone call, I think it could make many spammers to reconsider their business.

      I have an email filter rule that looks for toll-free numbers and puts them in a folder. Every morning I call the (usually 2 or 3) that have come in the last 24 hours and say politely, "I got your email about (whatever) and just wanted to let you know I'm not interested" and then hang up. No abuse, just waste their time and probably confuse them.

      --
      No electrons were harmed creating this post, though some may have been subjected to electrical and/or magnetic fields.
    10. Re:20 phone calls? by MoThugz · · Score: 0

      (did you even RTFA?)

      I don't think there's such a service/option in NZ... Btw, the callers are just harassers to give him a taste of his own medicine.

    11. Re:20 phone calls? by optikSmoke · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hello, this is [insert telco here]. You have a collect call from EAT MY DICK YOU COCKFACE SPAMMER. Press 1 to accept the charges now.

      Excellent.....

    12. Re:20 phone calls? by Steve+B · · Score: 4, Funny
      A spammer might not take phone calls seriously enough. That's why I'd prefer to a put a horse's head in his bed.

      At which point the bed would contain an entire horse.

      --
      /. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
    13. Re:20 phone calls? by GordoSlasher · · Score: 4, Informative

      When you call a toll-free number, the recipient gets your phone number even if you have caller ID blocking. This opens you up for receiving telemarketing calls. Even if you're on the Do Not Call list, the fact that you initiated a call to them might give them the right to call you under the guise of having a business relationship.

      The best thing to do with those toll-free numbers is to call them from a pay phone. The recipient pays an extra surcharge for calls from pay phones, and they can't track you.

    14. Re:20 phone calls? by anarchima · · Score: 1

      Perhaps we could get his mobile number instead, and spam it with SMS messages. That can be had for free on the internet too.

    15. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is one thing wrong with that... First off, the spammer was stupid beyond belief. Their whois entry for their domain was up to date and accurate, making them really easy to find.

      ALL spammers who give out phone numbers only give out voice mail phone numbers, usually never answered by a human, and those that are, are usually large call centers in India where the operator is clueless about the spammer's identity.

      And of course all web sites advertized in the spammers spam mail is sickly obfusgated, and if you can actually decode the domain name, you'll always find the "whois" false and bogus. Never mind that's against most registrar's policy.

      It takes a lot of "back door" human connections to really find them, but the best way, is to follow the money trail. Provided you (ahem) actually go out and get a bottle of penis pills.

    16. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I assure you Mr Kudos200, we are busting ass to ruin the bad spammers... In the last 2 weeks, we exposed 200 systems infected by spammer bots. So there are now 200 LESS ways spammers can spam... (grin)

      We now have a way to "detect" and identify spammer "zombie" machines (someone's PC who opened up an attachment). Now, we can tell when the Bot controller connects to it... BUSTED.... (grin)

    17. Re:20 phone calls? by Cheech+Wizard · · Score: 1

      My phones have a "Ringer Off' switch. Calling me your will typically get my answering machine. I have the ringer off on every phone in the house. I return calls a couple of times a day. It's your choice not to receive calls directly or even to hear your phone. Just as you don't HAVE to check your e-mail.

    18. Re:20 phone calls? by EzInKy · · Score: 1

      Except that phone calls are disruptive, because they actually make something ring and you can't filter them out. Get a sense of proportion, why don't you?

      A sense of proportion? Spammers have taken what was and could have continued to be a fantastic medium for instantaneous communication and turned it into a joke.

      --
      Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    19. Re:20 phone calls? by Sciamachy · · Score: 1

      Actually, a horse's ass might be more appropriate for spammers.

    20. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [-1 Needs Clue]

      Having a clue free day today??

      Do I have to explain it to you???

      Horses Ass && Horses Head == Full Horse

    21. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's great except every time you call an 800 number they get your phone number. I see more telemarketing calls in your future. Best call from a pay phone :) /pbz

    22. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll bet the phone calls were of the "We know where you live" threatening nature.

    23. Re:20 phone calls? by MegaFur · · Score: 1
      When you call a toll-free number, the recipient gets your phone number even if you have caller ID blocking.

      Could you please provide proof for this assertion? What's your evidence?

      --
      Furry cows moo and decompress.
    24. Re:20 phone calls? by hysma · · Score: 2, Informative

      As the owner of a few toll free numbers, I can assure you that CID blocking doesn't work. If CID is blocked, sure it won't come up on my caller id at the time of the call - but as soon as my bill arrives, I know exactly who called me sorted by Province/State, City, and eventually phone number, duration of call (obviously), and even the callers that didn't get answered (ie. hung up before VM picked up) or received a busy signal are listed.

    25. Re:20 phone calls? by MegaFur · · Score: 1

      Thank you for the infomration. It's definitely something to keep in mind when I'm dialing 1-800 numbers. :-)

      --
      Furry cows moo and decompress.
    26. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would prefer to put his head in a horses stable.

    27. Re:20 phone calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what's his postal address? Instead of sending postal complaints to him......send them to him at his neighbors' addresses.........they might get annoyed and speak to him about his misdeeds. It would be like OWL mail..........he WOULD get the message, and the other benefit is that no one would want to live near him because of the mail.

    28. Re:20 phone calls? by zedmelon · · Score: 1
      The larger (read: $$More$Cash$Than$You$Or$Me$$) companies can even take that one step further and have your phone number and zip code instantaneously--at least in the US.

      In calling my phone provider (Qwest), a prerecorded woman asks if you're calling from your home phone. I've had CID blocking for years, but all my stats are onscreen when the service rep asks "how may I help you?". It's all for confirmation (and perpetuating the illusion of respecting your privacy) that they ask for your info.

      Sorry, MegaFur; the only evidence I have is the memory of a couple phone reps that were honest enough to answer my questions.

      My cable modem provider has a similar setup.

      --
      Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
    29. Re:20 phone calls? by g0at · · Score: 1

      Well, that depends on your provider I guess.

      I had Bell Canada for a couple of years, and all toll-free calls came through as unknown name, unknown number on my call display.

      I switched to Sprint a couple of weeks ago, and now I get the name for some odd reason, but no number.

      -ben

    30. Re:20 phone calls? by 8282now · · Score: 1

      Yes, when you call an 800 number your number is presented to the called party. Think about it. They're being billed for the call and the charge is partially based on the location/phone number of the originating call.
      Just because your telco decides to charge you for the privilege of remaining "anonymous" doesn't mean that they don't transmit your information anyway.
      The money you're paying is "compensation" to the telco because they are presumably not able to pick up the extra coin from those customers that opt to have the caller id revealed to them.
      Hope that helps....

    31. Re:20 phone calls? by heybo · · Score: 1

      NO SHIT!!

    32. Re:20 phone calls? by slyDave · · Score: 1

      I have a naive question -- what percentage of e-mail SPAM contains telephone numbers to reach the SPAMMing company? A random sample of 20 the 179 SPAMs I've received in the past seven days yielded zero containing a number to call. They were all web or mail URLs.

  5. what a maroon by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Mr Atkinson said that on a good day he and his associates would send out 100 million messages."

    "he had received more than 20 phone calls, five of them obscene"

    oh for shame. 20 phone calls. some of them obscene! Good golly, why should the poor man have his time wasted in such a way? :rolleyes:

    --
    This space available.
    1. Re:what a maroon by Champaign · · Score: 1

      hmm... we made the same joke at the same time... I think you're my comedy twin...

    2. Re:what a maroon by wo1verin3 · · Score: 3, Funny

      >> "he had received more than 20 phone calls,
      >> five of them obscene"

      According to our records Mr Atkinson had choosen to opt-in on recieving such telephone communications, if he wishes to be removed please have him send an e-mail to an address that doesn't exist at someone elses organization.

    3. Re:what a maroon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > we made the same joke at the same time... I think you're my comedy twin...

      No, it was just an obvious joke.

    4. Re:what a maroon by aligma · · Score: 1

      "Maroon"ed on your island of humour groupthink. Bahaha. But I agree. That spammer is a moron. Its encouraging to see the online community react in such a decisive and effective way to these issues!

  6. Text. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Since the server was slow even when It first appeared.

    Spammer ducks for cover as details published on web

    2003-08-19 - By JUHA SAARINEN

    A New Zealander who sent billions of junk emails out every day has shut his business after his personal details were posted on the web.

    Shane Atkinson - whose business is known as spamming - said the barrage of abuse made him worry about the safety of his children.

    His identity as the man behind millions of spam messages promoting penis enlargement pills was revealed in a Herald article last week. Mr Atkinson said that on a good day he and his associates would send out 100 million messages.

    He said that since the article was published, anti-spam activists had been "having a field day". He had received more than 20 phone calls, twenty of them obscene.

    His personal information, street address and phone numbers were "plastered all over the web", he had been subscribed to a gay-dating site and his email address had been added to "tons of email lists".

    "I have already banned my 5-year-old from answering the phone," he said.

    The article also led to rackshack.com, the US web service that hosts Mr Atkinson's servers, being entered in the Spam Early Warning System list, which many networks use for blocking email traffic.

    Rackshack gave notice that it would shut down two of Mr Atkinson's servers because of the listing, forcing him to move the servers to a different network.

    Mr Atkinson has decided to get out of the spamming business, citing the "negative feedback" and saying that he "never intended to break any regulations". He has asked affiliates to stop doing the work for him.

    "I sort of feel good now about stopping this," he said.

    "I'll just stick to search engines and web sites - that's still plenty of fun and money."

    Internet group InternetNZ has said it will file formal complaints against Mr Atkinson with the Commerce Commission, the Ministry of Health and the Privacy Commissioner.

    New Zealand does not have specific anti-spam laws.

    1. Re:Text. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it's word for word what the printed article says...

    2. Re:Text. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh its proabably another troll that is trying to fool us by claming "its not the origional" but not providing any real proof.

      At least when we point out that the origional text has something a troll put in there we can provide proof, one can search for and find it.

  7. 20 phonecalls??? by Grimlock88 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    this guy peed his pants becasuse he received 20 phone calls, 5 obscene. unless he forgot a couple zeros there, this should encourage everyone to call the phone numbers of spammers they seeposted. to think that 20 lousy phone calls would actually make a difference. hell i get 20 phone calls a week from telemarketers, and this guy is complaining. but nevertheless, kudos to the antispammers out there clearly they are making a difference.

    1. Re:20 phonecalls??? by ebsf1 · · Score: 1

      In NZ we are fortunate enough that there are not a huge amount of telemarkters phoning us up. Maybe one every 2 to 3 months. Lucky us.

    2. Re:20 phonecalls??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good - remember all that UNIVERSITY DEGREE PROGRAM spam? After a lot of investigating, i determined they have a call center in Europe (possibly london)... but it's a US Toll free 877 number. I'm betting that diverting calls from the US toll free number to their call center might be pretty costly.

      So, lets all smarten up and get those diploma's you /.ers

      Call now and often - 1-877-722-2413

      make sure you call it from payphones, so that way, they add another 75 cents to their bill....

    3. Re:20 phonecalls??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are 2 45mb links from the North Is to the South Is that cover all the phone calls and all the internet traffic for 500,000 people. Maybe the lines were all full?

    4. Re:20 phonecalls??? by shaldannon · · Score: 1

      Well, with the new anti-telemarketing legislation in the US, maybe some of the telemarketers will set up shop in your fair country. Not that I would wish that on anyone...I signed up for the do not call registry because I hate telemarketers almost as much as spammers (the difference being you can actually talk to the telemarketer, meaning you can have some fun at their expense).

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
  8. Huh? by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    ...but some of his comments ("never intended to break any regulations"...had me wondering if he and other spammers are as really naive as the article makes out.

    I guess I must be naive too because I didn't know there were any regulations against spam. I guess I should inform the people spamming me that they are breaking the law. Thanks for the tip.

    --
    Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
    1. Re:Huh? by Audent · · Score: 4, Insightful

      while there are no specific laws in NZ that say "thou shalt not spam" (and the government is looking at introducing something along those lines one of these days), there are plenty of laws already in place to hassle this guy with. The NZ Privacy Act is a powerful tool that says you cannot gather information for one purpose (eg domain name registration) and use it for another (eg spam), so he's probably in breach of that. He's also potentially breaching the health act by selling a product that makes a medical claim without either a: evidence to back it up or b: a licence to sell medicine. He's also probably breaching the Fair Trading Act by offering a product that doesn't do what it says it will.
      InternetNZ (the NZ Internet Society) is laying a complaint with the various bodies about this guy:
      (http://computerworld.co.nz/webhome.nsf/nl/5 E241ED D85A39586CC256D8600210CBB)
      Can't give you a link to the InternetNZ release because they haven't put it on their website yet!

      --
      I am a leaf on the wind
    2. Re:Huh? by wanion · · Score: 1

      [Copied from news.admin.net-abuse.email]

      For immediate release - 15 August 2003

      INTERNETNZ LODGES COMPLAINTS AGAINST SPAMMER

      InternetNZ is lodging complaints against Christchurch
      spammer Shane Atkinson with three different regulatory
      bodies.

      Atkinson has been identified in the media as being
      responsible for the sending of up to 100 million spam
      e-mails a day to promote his penis enlargement pills.

      InternetNZ Vice-President, David Farrar, said that
      complaints are being lodged with:
      - The Commerce Commission for breach of Section 10 of the
      Fair Trading Act 1986, relating to misleading conduct in
      relation to goods.
      - The Ministry of Health for breach of the Medicines Act
      1981
      - The Privacy Commissioner for breach of the Privacy Act
      1993

      "Mr Atkinson is an unrepentant spammer who believes that
      those who don't want to receive spam should not connect to
      the Internet. InternetNZ disagrees that connecting to the
      Internet is a license for Mr Atkinson to promote his penis
      enlargement pills to every man, woman and child's e-mail
      address he can find" said Mr Farrar.

      InternetNZ has been considering investigating the
      possibility of advocating for NZ legislation to combat spam.

      "If nothing is done to stem the tide of spam, we will start
      to lose Internet users as they become overloaded with junk
      mail. It is estimated that just over 50% of all email
      travelling the Internet is now spam". said Keith Davidson,
      InternetNZ President

      =93If spammers believe there is nothing wrong with spamming,
      then legislation will become a definitive requirement in New
      Zealand. Many other countries have passed or intend to pass
      anti-spam legislation. While New Zealand has been able to
      rely on industry self regulation and a high degree of
      co-operation between ISP's in the fight against spam, it is
      becoming apparent that further steps towards legislation may
      be desirable if attitudes like those of Mr Atkinson
      exist.=94 according to Mr Davidson

      InternetNZ urges the appropriate regulatory authorities to
      prosecute Mr Atkinson to the maximum extent permissible
      under current laws." concluded InternetNZ Vice-President
      David Farrar

      ENDS

      For further information please contact:
      David Farrar
      Vice-President and Chair of Legal & Regulatory, InternetNZ
      david@farrar.com
      027 447 0216

      Keith Davidson
      President, InternetNZ
      president@internetnz.net.nz
      027 430 3317

  9. Oh, this is so NOT a good idea . . . by Brad+Cossette · · Score: 5, Funny

    You realize, Mr. Atkinson, that by backing off now you're encouraging us to continue this kind of behavior on other spammers . . .

    In a truely please-don't-blink moment, the man who claimed to send out 100 million messages a day on such wonderful things as penis-enlarging pills complains about receiving 5 obscene phone calls . . . they were probably just disappointed customers. ;)

    --
    -- "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" [Oscar Wilde]
  10. so instead of spamming.. by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Interesting

    .. he will devote his time to making linkfarms and other bogus websites with zero content? yeah that sounds like a plan to feed your family.

    for the one's that don't know, it involves making sites that attract clicks(by looking like there could be for example emulation roms downloadable, or pron from there) from for example google and link to other sites of the same author to get the authors sites up in the search, thus polluting the search service with meaningless s**t making some fields of 'research' quite impossible to search with google without scripts for filtering that kind of stuff out of the results (doesn't need that much of a work with googleapi, and there's just few of these assholes making these sites and they tend to use the same referral id's on their ads on all of their sites making it a bit easier to filter them this filtering on client side needs a lot of bandwith though,and isn't that fast, obviously).

    i'm wondering if somebody has made a decent easy to use program/scripts to use BIG blacklists with google (i hacked something together some time ago but it's not exactly easy to use for everyday stuff)?

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    1. Re:so instead of spamming.. by heli0 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually PHP-Nuke.org explits this flaw.

      Go to google and search for "god". They will be either 1 or 2.

      They did this by having other sites link to them in reference to god, and their intent was obviously not malicious, but it shows how easily these rankings are manipulated once you know the system.

      I learned this reading an article about how teoma.com is now one of the top search engines (they are now owned by askjeeves).

      --
      Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
    2. Re:so instead of spamming.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >beep beep i'm a drone

      Yes, I could tell by the run-on sentence. 138 words without a period, that has to be a record...

    3. Re:so instead of spamming.. by Klaruz · · Score: 3, Informative

      I think it's because the default superuser account on phpnuke is god. So god posts a lot of stuff on a lot on phpnuke sites that haven't been that modified.

    4. Re:so instead of spamming.. by panaceaa · · Score: 1

      who cares about google spamming i want some scripts for filtering out run-on sentences!

    5. Re:so instead of spamming.. by myov · · Score: 1

      Or google for "go to hell" and wind up at microsoft.com

      (too bad it's been removed)

      --
      I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
    6. Re:so instead of spamming.. by sketerpot · · Score: 1
      Yeah, those sites really annoy me. How do you go about finding emulation roms? I once know about a good site with a simple HTML interface and no broken links or "click here to vote for this site!" buttons. Then it went away.

      My latest thought is that I could write a spider program to go through the links on a google search for a certain game rom, and return the URLs of all .zip files that aren't broken links. Unfortunately my spider program was going pretty slowly since I couldn't get asynchronous I/O to work properly, so I abandoned the idea.

    7. Re:so instead of spamming.. by evilviper · · Score: 1
      but it shows how easily these rankings are manipulated once you know the system.

      I wouldn't say the system has really been manipulated.

      If you are linked to from a number of high ranking sites, that sounds like a perfectly legitimate reason to increase your ranking.

      Hey, if you can get Yahoo.com, Amazon.com, ibm.com, and others to include a link to you on their front-page, you deserve to be the first site returned, because you obviously have something to offer.

      Meanwhile, including a million links from some dipwad free-sites like geocities and homestead, probably won't give you a very high ranking, unless you are exploiting very uncommon keywords, in which case you won't really get that much business out of it.

      I would say that linkfarms are only sucessful against search engines that are less well designed than google. I am open to examples of the opposite however. If anyone has some reasonable search term that gets dominated by linkfarms rather than legit sites, I'd be happy to hear about it, and I'm sure google techs would as well.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    8. Re:so instead of spamming.. by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      that's mostly what i came up with, sort of.

      what my spider would do was that it got few hundred urls from google and then went through all of them scoring them(scoring was based on word lists i made, add references and popups would give negative points, and ftp:// and .zip and things like that would give positive points) and then it dumped the results into mysql.

      it worked ok(meaning i did find sites that had roms on them with it), but it was mainly an expirement to see if it was possible.. besides finding emulation roms other ways than from the web is a LOT easier (rompacks on edonkey, bt and kazaa for example).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    9. Re:so instead of spamming.. by 42forty-two42 · · Score: 1
      Unfortunately my spider program was going pretty slowly since I couldn't get asynchronous I/O to work properly, so I abandoned the idea.
      POE and LWP can do async I/O nicely
  11. Really as naive ? by Crashmarik · · Score: 2, Insightful

    please

    Do you spam ?
    Have you even considered it as an option ?

    If you said no its because you posess ethichs and a conscience. Congratulations and my sympathy you have things the typical spammer does not.

    1. Re:Really as naive ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > ethichs

      Ethichs? Is this a new American English spelling variant that I haven't seen before?

      You illiterate FUCK!

  12. of course they are naive by AmVidia+HQ · · Score: 1

    we all know pigs (spam) and ducks are cute, innocent animals.

    --
    VIVA1023.com | Political Fashion.
  13. People are quick to cry wolf. by wackybrit · · Score: 1, Insightful

    There are some companies (and individuals) who send large amounts of e-mail, who are 'spammers' by one definition (as in they send large amounts of commercial mail containing advertisements) but who live by the letter of the law.

    Freaks sending incest or rape spam to all the addresses they can find are crossing signficant moral boundaries, but people who've legitimately got access to mailing lists rented out by newsletter companies (to which you signed up, often accepting that you'd receive some ads) don't deserve to be hounded. What they're doing is not illegal, and not morally wrong, since you have accepted to receive this info.

    Of course, there are a lot more bad spammers out there, than spammers who have morals, only mail proper lists, and respect remove requests, but that doesn't mean all spammers have to be tarred with the same brush.

    The term 'spammer' is as accusatory, and often as false, as 'criminal'. You might think all criminals are bad, but what about the 'criminal' who said something bad about the government and got arrested for it? Likewise, not all 'spammers' are inherently evil scum sending porno ads to your TV-addicted drooling children.

    1. Re:People are quick to cry wolf. by mopslik · · Score: 1

      Likewise, not all 'spammers' are inherently evil scum sending porno ads to your TV-addicted drooling children.

      Yes, but the article isn't talking about all people with access to legitimate mailing lists. It's talking about a known spammer getting his just desserts.

    2. Re:People are quick to cry wolf. by dipipanone · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The term 'spammer' is as accusatory, and often as false, as 'criminal'.

      Perhaps so. However, I know quite a few convicted criminals that I'd be only to happy to socialize with or to invite around to my home for dinner.

      I don't believe there's anyone who sends out uninvited commercial email that I'd extend those privileges to.

      Give me an honest mugger or burglar over a spammer, any day of the week. At least the former will do their time without whining when they get caught.

    3. Re:People are quick to cry wolf. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes all spammers are inherently evil, regardless of what they are pushing.

      spam wastes bandwidth that is paid for through subscription rates to ISPs that pay for access to the backbones. Those backbones have to be increased in bandwidth to carry all the extra traffic generated by spamming assholes. So even if I never recieve a spam email, I still have a monetary loss due to the increased access fees because some spammer thinks that email bandwidth is a free and inexhausible resource.

      The Saudis allow public beheadings for crimes with less associated financial loss. Let's get them to prosecute spammers.

  14. Whats his number? by Unknown+Poltroon · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I want to sell his kids som penis enlargemtn pills.

    Spam, telemarketing, whats the difference? Why are you so offended? My 8 year old neice gets those e-mails.

    --
    All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
    1. Re:Whats his number? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think it's:
      Atkinson Shane

      2 O'Neill Ave Harewood Belfast

      0-3-323 6484

      But don't call him up and try to annoy him... that would be unethical!

    2. Re:Whats his number? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      0-3-323 6484

      For those calling from overseas, New Zealand is country code 64.

      Hence +64 3 323 6484

      Wonder if it's still active or if he's had Telecom disconnect it yet...

    3. Re:Whats his number? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      thats 0011 64 3323 6484 from the US :-)

    4. Re:Whats his number? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He broke some laws in NZ by illegal pharmaceuticals. Can we buy some penis enlargement pills for his new cell mate?

    5. Re:Whats his number? by arivanov · · Score: 1

      Why,

      I, for once, want to sell his address to the local Health and Safety enforcement. If he marketed "generic viagra" which usually goes along with the pills you can also sell his address to Pfizer. A few more like these also come to mind.

      He will not have a house, a car and a future very very soon.

      --
      Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
      http://www.sigsegv.cx/
    6. Re:Whats his number? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Drop the first 0, dingbat.

    7. Re:Whats his number? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GREAT! Now I know where to send my death threats!

      He's a spammer. Face it. He deserves it.

      The internet and spam has proven that all it takes is one person to make many lives miserable.

  15. spammers do seem to drink their own kool-aid by bennomatic · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I've had SPAM-vertisers try to sign up the company I work for as a client, and I've had them try to convince me that it's OK to advertise that way. One guy got really aggrivated when I tried to explain that when it takes 20 minutes a day to delete all the viagra ads you get, 20 minutes for the mortgage ads, etc..., that very very very few people actually feel that they have been provided with a service when they receive SPAM e-mail.

    I don't think, for the most part, that they are naive in the classical sense of the word; I think that they are closer to delusional. They have been given all the information they need, and they have chosen the interpretation which is going to let them do what they want to do.

    However, I have seen a couple of occasions where a SPAM has been followed a couple of days later by an apology, where it truly does appear that someone has had a break-through experience and now understands that SPAM is a bad idea, where they truly did not understand that previously.

    --
    The CB App. What's your 20?
    1. Re:spammers do seem to drink their own kool-aid by jcr · · Score: 2, Funny

      I've had SPAM-vertisers try to sign up the company I work for as a client, and I've had them try to convince me that it's OK to advertise that way.

      You should have invited them to a meeting, and the kicked the crap out of them when they showed up.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    2. Re:spammers do seem to drink their own kool-aid by bennomatic · · Score: 1

      Yeah, back then I couldn't get my boss to rubber-stamp that one.

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
    3. Re:spammers do seem to drink their own kool-aid by jcr · · Score: 1

      I couldn't get my boss to rubber-stamp that one.

      Bummer.

      Well, if it ever happens again, please post the spammer's contact info as widely as possible.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    4. Re:spammers do seem to drink their own kool-aid by Abm0raz · · Score: 1

      Step 1. Invite the spammer to a marketting meeting to pitch his sales ideas
      Step 2. pretend to listen and be interested (important to act the part)
      Step 3. Get his *REAL* business card and contact info (the one he gives out to clients that he thinks will actually buy his services)
      Step 4. Post the contact info (and a short blurb about who they are and what they do) to slashdot, K5, usenet, etc ...
      Step 5. Sit back and watch as the spammer gets spammed.
      Step 5. ??? (obligatory)
      Step 6. Lack of profit

      Honestly, I hear often that "This type of vigilanteism is bad and counter productive, etc ..." but I disagree. It runs along the same principle many armies have used in the past: Why shoot your enemies when you can get them to shoot each other? I have no qualms with getting spammers spammed. (I do have a slight issue with sending obscene phone calls, though. Let's keep it as legit as possible.) Let the spammers kill each other off with their garbage with the collateral damage (i.e. us regular users) start to see some increased benefits.

      So, we signed his email up the way ours get's screen scraped from websites. Spammers are fighting to keep everything opt-OUT rather than opt-IN. Well, he has the option to opt-out (of spamming) and he has.

      -Ab

      --
      Nothing fails quite like prayer.
    5. Re:spammers do seem to drink their own kool-aid by evilviper · · Score: 1
      However, I have seen a couple of occasions where a SPAM has been followed a couple of days later by an apology, where it truly does appear that someone has had a break-through experience and now understands that SPAM is a bad idea, where they truly did not understand that previously.


      I have been order by the court to appologize for bothering everyone. So, if you forgive me, send one dollar to Happy Dude 742 Evergreen Terrace.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  16. One down... by CoffeeDad · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The problem is that *real* spamlords sell/rent/MLM convenient little subscription kits, services, tools and utilities that enable mindless drooling head-bobbers like this to join the ranks of spammers. No way of telling now, whether it was just another spammerzombie, or one of the real kingpins. Shoot 'em all, I say.

    -- Don't just delete spam, delete spammers. join SpammerHunters

  17. Re:You hypocrites by kaltkalt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not hypocrisy. They're doing it to make the guy realize that hey's being an annoying prick. If you're so simple minded that you can't get past "sending a spammer spam to make spam stop" you shouldn't be reading stuff in the first place. Just watch reality TV. This is like posting John Ashcroft's personal info on the internet to make him think twice about TIA/big brother stuff. It's not hypocrisy when you're doing X solely to the guys who do X to make them realize X is wrong. It's not hypocrisy, it's not ironic, and it's not coincidental. It's a valid way of making certain people realize they're acting like asses.

    --

    Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
  18. I can help... by Erik_the_Awful · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...if only someone would post Shane Atkinson's Address and Phone Number. I don't think 20 phone calls is enough. I think Shane Atkinson needs to experience the power of "internet karma..."

    I'll be watching for any details you might post.
    -EtA

    1. Re:I can help... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      www.whitepages.co.nz

      There are 4 "S Atkinson"'s listed for Christchurch. Unfortunatly none of them are in the same suberb as the POBOX listed in his domains contact details. However is cellular phone is. However that cellular number is a pre-pay number, so odds are it's been replaced by now.

      P.O. Box 36289 Merivale
      Christchurch, NZ 8030
      NZ
      064211252557

    2. Re:I can help... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I realise all you judeochristian types swallowed all that eye-for-an-eye stuff long ago, but telephone harassment is still illegal. My understanding is that if you make long harassing calls to people in NZ or Australia, you end up being publicly punished in some way, possibly involving a large boot. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

    3. Re:I can help... by dotgain · · Score: 1

      I can't believe everyone missed the simpsons reference! Anybody?!?! This post belongs at (+5, Simpsons Ref)

    4. Re:I can help... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see that his listing has been dropped from the online white pages already... so the number is probably already dead and the the new one unlisted.

      At least his address is maintained on the Companies Register. (Their site sucks can't link to record, click on current name search, and use 'innovative ideas' as the company name).

      Company: 1351402 INNOVATIVE IDEAS LIMITED
      Incorporated: 18-JUL-2003
      Current Status: REGISTERED

      Registered Office:
      2 O'Neill Ave
      Northwood
      Christchurch
      New Zealand

      Directors:
      ATKINSON, Shane Kem


      If he is really serious, lets wait and see what happens to his recently registered business.

      I remember seeing the name of one of his sites, penismedical. com on the tv coverage last night, and a whois provided the following...

      Checking server [whois.crsnic.net]
      Checking server [whois.directnic.com]

      Registrant:
      SA PUBLISHINGS
      P.O. Box 36289 Merivale
      Christchurch, NZ 8030
      NZ
      064211252557

      Domain Name: PENISMEDICAL.COM

      Administrative Contact:
      Atkinson, Shane support@sapublishings.com
      P.O. Box 36289 Merivale
      Christchurch, NZ 8030
      NZ
      064211252557

      Technical Contact:
      Atkinson, Shane support@sapublishings.com
      P.O. Box 36289 Merivale
      Christchurch, NZ 8030
      NZ
      064211252557

      Record last updated 11-12-2002 02:11:38 AM
      Record expires on 03-22-2004
      Record created on 03-22-2002

      Domain servers in listed order:
      NS1.INTERAID.COM 168.143.118.225
      NS4.INTERAID.COM 198.65.160.245


      Thats a mobile and SMS capable phone number, don't know if it actually works, for international users, that +64 (21) 1252557. I'm sure he has dropped it by now anyway...

  19. Video of interview with the spammer by waynemcdougall · · Score: 4, Informative
    Mr Atkinson was interview on a 'current affairs' show on the state broadcaster.

    What I find most notable is that he can barely suppress the smirk [IMO] when he says he didn't do anything wrong, and also when he said he was going to stop.

    RealVideo can be found here: http://www.tvone.co.nz/programmes/holmes/

    --
    Recycle PCs and build a wireless community network www.hillsborough.org.nz
    1. Re:Video of interview with the spammer by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 1
      From the video:
      I think that there's a very small percentage of people who've gone over the top.

      He recieved between 10 amd 20 orders per day.. that's about 1 order per 5million emails sent.

      I'd say that one order per 5 million emails sent would also classify as 'a very small percentage of people'. He's now suffering from the same statistical effect that he's been exploiting -- In a world of 6 billion people, there really is about one born every minute -- whether it's a sucker or just somebody who's very, very irate.

      He's not naive... Greedy and perhaps wilfully blind, but not naive.

      --
      Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
    2. Re:Video of interview with the spammer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know who is more annoying the spammer or Paul Holmes.......
      can't TVNZ get a Journalist with comunication skills for that Money ?

    3. Re:Video of interview with the spammer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And apparently 400-odd IRD workers know exactly how much money indeed.

    4. Re:Video of interview with the spammer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They have been told not to do this any more... Yeah Right.

    5. Re:Video of interview with the spammer by shaldannon · · Score: 1

      "If you're not on somebody's shit list, you're not doing anything worthwhile."

      So...since this guy is on several people's black list, would you say he's doing something worthwhile?

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
    6. Re:Video of interview with the spammer by MegaFur · · Score: 1

      The converse of an if ... then is not necessarily true, even if the original statement is true.

      An example:
      If a polygon is a square, then it is also a rectangle. True.
      Now the converse: If a polygon is a rectangle, then it is also a square. Not always true, therefore false.

      --
      Furry cows moo and decompress.
    7. Re:Video of interview with the spammer by shaldannon · · Score: 1

      But I wasn't looking at the converse, was I? That would have been "he's not doing anything worthwhile, therefore he's not on anyone's black list." But he is clearly on at least one person's blacklist, therefore, according to the test, he has to be doing something "worthwhile". (I don't buy that, hence my question).

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
  20. Spam Pays by Liannis · · Score: 1, Informative

    Sadly enough, it does pay....I read an article that said over a 4-week period, 6000 people bought on average two bottles of $50 penis-enhancement 'medicine' that was probably gelatin.

    Over a year, that can be pretty lucrative. He shouldn't be able to whine about it when the tables are turned, though.

    1. Re:Spam Pays by Esion+Modnar · · Score: 1
      article that said over a 4-week period, 6000 people bought on average two bottles of $50 penis-enhancement 'medicine' that was probably gelatin. ... Over a year, that can be pretty lucrative.

      "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money..."

      I can't quite remember who said that... think I heard it on Imus.

      --

      They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
    2. Re:Spam Pays by Liannis · · Score: 1

      Personally I'd be impressed with a way to make $30K in four weeks right now that was legal and didn't make people hate me..

    3. Re:Spam Pays by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Personally I'd be impressed with a way to make $30K in four weeks right now that was legal and didn't make people hate me..
      Kill Imus. His disease has taken over so much of his goat-necked body that he can no longer be called human, so killing him wouldn't be illegal. And Bababooey to you.
    4. Re:Spam Pays by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

      Me too! I want 10 new G5s.

    5. Re:Spam Pays by rco3 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and 6,000 x $50 x 2 per person is $600,000. In four weeks.

      That's a lot of G5's.

      --

      Ce n'est pas un vrai mouvement de robot!
    6. Re:Spam Pays by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even a 1 in 500,000 response ratio makes one a bit embarrassed to be a member of this species (ironically a type of primate distinguished in part by an abnormally large penis).

      I'm not sure of the statistic, though. Someone else said 10 to 20 responses a day, which is 1 in 5-10 million assuming all the suckers buy the bait. Snake-oil hawkers typically overrepresent their success (not surprising since you need to possess elements of what some would term clinical psychopathy). Somehow that order of magnitude makes me feel slightly better about humanity's collective clue, though it's still a tidy profit for the spammer.

    7. Re:Spam Pays by cybermace5 · · Score: 1

      I think we need to find them a business that actually lures them away from spamming.

      How about, if you are a confirmed spammer, you can be paid money NOT to spam. ...I think I just discovered their master plan.

      --
      ...
    8. Re:Spam Pays by Liannis · · Score: 1

      That's like paying farmers not to raise hogs. Useful for the short term, but only a long term financial drain. Once you get the free money, why quit or get a real job?

  21. OK, but does he have... by Esion+Modnar · · Score: 1
    ...AFLAC?

    (*ducks* for cover, get it, oh i murder myself...)

    --

    They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
  22. But on the bright side... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...this guy must have the biggest penis in the world.

    1. Re:But on the bright side... by sharkey · · Score: 1

      Well, he is...

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  23. Keep in mind by AndroidCat · · Score: 4, Insightful
    had me wondering if he and other spammers are as really naive as the article makes out.

    Rule #1: Spammers always lie.
    Rule #2: When a spammer seems to be telling the truth, see rule #1.

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    1. Re:Keep in mind by brooks_talley · · Score: 2, Funny

      So if a spammer "I am a spammer", it means that they're not? And if you mistakenly accuse someone of being a spammer (hey, it happens sometimes) and they deny it, their denial means nothing because they're a spammer and therefore lying?

      Damn, this problem is more difficult than I thought. There's mass stupidity on *both* sides.

      Cheers
      -b

    2. Re:Keep in mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So if a spammer "I am a spammer", it means that they're not?

      Not really a logical contradiction. Empirically, no spammer has said "I am a spammer", ever. Thus the rule holds.

    3. Re:Keep in mind by BattyMan · · Score: 2

      So if a spammer [says] "I am a spammer", it means that they're not?

      Empirically, no spammer has said "I am a spammer", ever. Thus the rule holds.


      No, no no. The three rules of spammers are:

      1. Spammers lie.

      2. If a spammer appears to be telling the truth, see Rule#1.

      3. Spammers are stupid (or they'd be rich, and not spammers).

      So if a spammer _were_ to say: "I'm a spammer" (which, again, has never happened in the history of the known Universe), that would mean that:

      A. He's too stupid to understand what spam is (examples of this are abundant).

      B. He honestly does not believe that he's a spammer (again, examples abound).

      C. And he's lying (in his mind) by saying that he _is_ a spammer. There are no examples of this, since no spammer would ever be motivated to _say_ they were a spammer.

      It would be an example of Rule #3 and #2 working in concert, NOT a failure of Rule #1.

      --
      Exceeding the recommended torque is not recommended.
    4. Re:Keep in mind by greenrd · · Score: 1
      Rule 1 is born out of long experience.

      And if you mistakenly accuse someone of being a spammer (hey, it happens sometimes) and they deny it, their denial means nothing because they're a spammer and therefore lying?

      Well, yes. Unless they can provide a convincing reason why you're wrong. Would you want the police to be swayed by a suspect who said "Honest officer I didn't kill that man" when there was evidence linking the suspect to the murder?

      Unfortunately people have this attitude I think partly because the mainstream media (especially in the US) is so uncritical about the misdeeds of the powerful. If someone denies a crime let's give them the benefit of the doubt! Um, no. Let's not. Let's consider the evidence, instead.

    5. Re:Keep in mind by shaldannon · · Score: 1

      "Honest officer I didn't kill that man"

      You mean, like "If it does not fit you must acquit"?

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
    6. Re:Keep in mind by ealar+dlanvuli · · Score: 1


      Damn, this problem is more difficult than I thought. There's mass stupidity on *both* sides.


      Yes, yes there is.

      --
      I live in a giant bucket.
    7. Re:Keep in mind by MegaFur · · Score: 1

      What about "innocent until proven guilty"? What about when the law comes after you for simply disclosing a bug in some piece of software. Do you understand what a witch hunt is? You should be more careful about who you condemn. They may be coming for *you* some day...

      --
      Furry cows moo and decompress.
    8. Re:Keep in mind by greenrd · · Score: 1
      99% of the time, when an accused spammer says he is being persecuted, he is actually a spammer.

    9. Re:Keep in mind by MegaFur · · Score: 1

      and, so, I suppose the other 1% are just "acceptable losses"?

      --
      Furry cows moo and decompress.
    10. Re:Keep in mind by AndroidCat · · Score: 1
      "This is not spam. You used our telepathic psycik opt-in system."

      When you can trace the spam back to their server, what's to debate? On my equipment, I am judge, jury and executioner. They can send all the mail they want--it just won't pass customs at my border.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  24. Change of Heart? by z3ngine · · Score: 5, Informative

    This latest report shows a big change of heart from his comments of a few days ago:

    "If you don't want to receive spam, don't connect to the Internet, or don't have an e-mail address." - Shane Atkinson, 15th Aug 2003.

    See the full story here [stuff.co.nz].


    64% of all statistics are totally useless.
    z3ngine.
    --


    I therefore think I am.
    1. Re:Change of Heart? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait a sec.. from the article:
      "It did not bother him that the messages annoyed people, or that some messages were received by minors.

      Mr Atkinson said he routinely had "denial of service" attacks made against his servers, where people tried to overload the system, plus nightly phone calls and even death threats. "

      But today he said he's stopped because of 20 phone calls? Is that the total from the 'nightly phone calls and even death threats', or is something wrong with this picture?

    2. Re:Change of Heart? by z3ngine · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Yes that's right - its very inconsistent.

      I see that one of two things could be derived from this:
      1) over-exagerative or simply poor journalism or;
      2) Atkinson's stance/comments to journalists have been inconsistent
      If 2) is the go then his actions could be very deliberate in trying to quell some of the hatred headed his way. By openly saying, "OK anti-spam community, you got me, I give up" he may simply be trying to throw people off the scent.

      Somehow I imagine that he will simply be more careful in setting up his next spam venture to make sure it can't be tracked back to him.


      Cheese is nice.
      z3ngine.
      --


      I therefore think I am.
    3. Re:Change of Heart? by Forgotten · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If he's really making tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per month in gross revenue, do you really think he's going to stop because some people are annoyed at him? Would you, honestly? Let alone if you were someone willing to begin the activity in the first place?

      Also, given that his business consists of netting suckers with semi-fraudulent claims (carefully not reproduced on the actual product), do you think he'd have a single qualm that would prevent him from lying about whether he's going to quit?

      In order to have a change of heart, one would have to have a heart to begin with. It may make some people feel better to harass this guy, albeit in a nasty-minded sort of way. It's not going to make one iota of difference.

  25. Somebody, please by Gherald · · Score: 5, Funny

    Post his e-mail address and phone number!

    No really, this is for legitemate business. I represent a major supplier of penis enlargment pills, and I just want to offer him my company's services.... ten thousand times per day.

  26. Generic spammer C'a'm'p'a'i'g'n pills really work by Linker3000 · · Score: 1
    Generic anti-spammer pills make your success at getting rid of these scumbags even B'i'g'g'e'r. Simply take one pill before tracing their web host or registration details and deal them a s't'i'f'f blow in the spamming department. Guaranteed to work. Cheaper than the prescription version and no cock-ups when using. Send check to...yada yada
    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
  27. Heh - New Zealand is far too small to try to hide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    in.

    The guy appeared on TV here and looked like a retard.

    He kept saying "ooh I'm doing nothing wrong ... blah blah"

    I wonder if he could be done for using a telephone in a manner to cause nuisance.

    Obviously those penis pills do cause side effects.

  28. Personally by Hal+The+Computer · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm not worried about Artificial Intelligence, when they invent Artificial Stupidiy, then I'll be scared.

    --

    int main(void){int x=01232;while(malloc(x));return x;}
    1. Re:Personally by Wilk4 · · Score: 1
      " I'm not worried about Artificial Intelligence, when they invent Artificial Stupidiy, then I'll be scared."

      Yeah, well we may have to worry about computers someday being smarter than humans, but we'll NEVER have to worry about them out-dumbing us...
      Humans Rule in that area!!!! ;-)

  29. Vigilante justice... by ktakki · · Score: 4, Interesting
    From the article:
    New Zealand does not have specific anti-spam laws.

    I used to think that comparing the Internet to the Wild West was just as bad as that "superhighway" metaphor, but lately I've come to realize how appropriate it's come to be.

    You've got a legal vacuum for the most part, considering that most law enforcement authorities won't take action until a certain monetary dollar amount of damage has been done (with some notable exceptions such as child pornography). Thus, the medium is dominated by penis-enlarging snake oil salesmen, grizzled dataminers trying to pass off fool's gold as the real thing, men in black hats, men in white hats, Indians with H1B visas (yeah, I know...), and e-mail programs infected with smallpox.

    I only beat the Net Rush of '94 by a couple of years, but I've heard some of the oldtimers tell tales of yore, when the whole community would get together to raise a barn or wire a school with CAT-5, or how you could always rely on your neighbor to help mend a fence or patch sendmail.

    "Round up a posse, boys. We'll head 'em off at the router..."

    Yeah, it's a stretch. I know. But everytime I look in that Deadman's Gulch I call my inbox, my trigger finger starts to itch and I yearn for a nice .45-70 Henry rifle.

    k.
    --
    "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
    1. Re:Vigilante justice... by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You've got a legal vacuum for the most part, considering that most law enforcement authorities won't take action until a certain monetary dollar amount of damage has been done (with some notable exceptions such as child pornography).

      Actually, the NZ government has described the spam problem as "too hard" from a legislative perspective.

      Instead of working in the interests of its citizens to develop a set of laws that will penalize local spammers, the NZ government has now decided it will more or less just adopt any anti-spam laws produce in Australia.

      Given the appalling track record Aussie legislators when it comes to regulating the Net I thing the cure might be worse than the complaint.

      It looks as if NZ's politicians are just too busy enjoying their perks to actually do something positive about the problem.

      In the meantime, if you show a picture of a naked couple having sex to an 8-year-old on a street corner you'll get arrested and thrown in the slammer. Send thousands of 8-year-olds the same picture via email while promoting your porno website via spam and you're in the clear.

      NZ has 4 million uncounted sheep -- they're the ones who never seem to call the government to account when they fail to perform.

    2. Re:Vigilante justice... by Idarubicin · · Score: 2, Funny
      Here is the quintessential humour piece about the absurdity of the "Information Superhighway" metaphor. I haven't attributed it, because the first five citations of it in Google list five unique authors. (If anyone can identify the real author, let me know.)
      There it is again. Some clueless fool talking about the "Information Superhighway". They don't know didley about the Net. It's nothing like a superhighway. That's a rotten metaphor.

      Suppose the metaphor ran in the other direction. Suppose the highways were like the net...

      A highway hundreds of lanes wide. Most with pitfalls for potholes. Privately operated bridges and overpasses. No highway patrol. A couple of rent-a-cops on bicycles with broken whistles. 500 member vigilante posses with nuclear weapons. A minimum of 237 on ramps at every intersection.

      No signs. Wanna get to Ensenada? Holler out the window at a passing truck to ask directions.

      Ad hoc traffic laws. Some lanes would vote to make use by a single-occupant-vehicle a capital offense on Monday through Friday between 7:00 and 9:00. Other lanes would just shoot you without a trial for talking on a car phone.

      AOL would be a giant diesel-smoking bus with hundreds of ebola victims on board throwing dead wombats and rotten cabbage at the other cars, most of which have been assembled at home from kits. Some are built around 2.5 horsepower lawn mower engines with a top speed of nine miles an hour. Others burn nitroglycerin and idle at 120.

      No license plates. World War II bomber nose art instead. Terrifying paintings of huge teeth or vampire eagles. Bumper mounted machine guns. Flip somebody the finger on this highway and get a white phosphorus grenade up your tailpipe. Flatbed trucks cruise around with anti-aircraft missile batteries to shoot down the traffic helicopter. Little kids on tricycles with squirt guns filled with hydrochloric acid switch lanes without warning.

      NO OFFRAMPS. None.

      Now that's the way to run an Interstate Highway system.

      --
      ~Idarubicin
    3. Re:Vigilante justice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was under the impression that this was pretty much what it's like to drive in the L.A. area.

  30. Ridiculous by veldmon · · Score: 0, Troll
    I don't know if it's the media or the spammers, but I always get the same vibe from these kind of articles. First, it's about the lackey, then the convoluted drama, and lastly the ambiguous moral outcome.

    Lets get real about two things. First, it's not illegal to send unsolicited emails. Second, it's not illegal to use passive defensive measures to block said spam.

    After that, it's all up to the investigators. Aggressive anti-spam activists should be locked up. They do more harm than good. I worked briefly as a spammer, but then lost my income as a result of an anti-spam hacker with a chip on his shoulder. Lets just say that it's not a pleasant experience. There's no use for vigilantes on the internet.

    1. Re:Ridiculous by dreadnougat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      " I worked briefly as a spammer, but then lost my income as a result of an anti-spam hacker with a chip on his shoulder." Good. You know the reason he had a chip on his shoulder? Probably had something to do with this spam that "people" like you send. Vigilantes in general... bad. Vigilantes taking down spammers... good.

    2. Re:Ridiculous by mmuskratt · · Score: 2, Funny

      Receiving 100 emails a day for penis enlargement, porn sites, great deals on vacations and a bunch of other crap is not a "pleasant experience" either.

      It is not illegal to send unsolicited email, no, but unsolicited email is slowly crippling email itself. Just because it is not illegal does not make the spammers tactics any better than the anti-spammers.

      It is legal for me to ride a train and drink a beer, but if I could magically clone myself 100 million times, then all the trains around here would have a bunch of drunk me's running around, and that would make the train system sort of pointless, except that I'd be pretty amused. Your argument would indicate that this would be ok...100 million beer drinking me's...that sounds cool.

      --
      man rtfm
    3. Re:Ridiculous by wavecoder · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I worked briefly as a spammer, but then lost my income as a result of an anti-spam hacker with a chip on his shoulder. Lets just say that it's not a pleasant experience. There's no use for vigilantes on the internet.
      Good. You've wasted the time of millions of people. That's "not pleasant," either. Cry me a river.

    4. Re:Ridiculous by Scrameustache · · Score: 2, Funny

      Aggressive anti-spam activists should be locked up. They do more harm than good. I worked briefly as a spammer

      Please post your name, adress, phone number, fax number, and picture here, on slashdot.

      I promise you, we WILL do you more harm than good...

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    5. Re:Ridiculous by Dieppe · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Someone might have already said this, but Oh Boo Hoo Cry me a River. You lost your "income" stealing from everyone else. Boo Hoo. And correction: It is illegal in some states to send unsolicited emails if there isn't a proper return email address, if the return email addresses are forged, or if there is no real way to "remove" someone from the "list"...

    6. Re:Ridiculous by jejones · · Score: 2, Funny

      I worked briefly as a spammer, but then lost my income as a result of an anti-spam hacker with a chip on his shoulder.

      We pause now for any expressions of sympathy.

      (Crickets chirp.)

    7. Re:Ridiculous by PReDiToR · · Score: 3, Insightful

      << I worked briefly as a spammer>>

      At wich point you lost all rights to complain about anythign to do with your income, career, working conditions, public perception and feelings. You became a pariah, outcast by all who use the internet for more than 20 minutes a day, and some that don't.

      <<but then lost my income as a result of an anti-spam hacker>>

      Live by the sword, die by the sword. If only all spam-sending computers had a chip built in that could wipe their hard drives remotely. Or better still, crash the heads so they have to go to the inconvenience of buying a new unit every two days.

      Your post is mis-modded. Saying you were a spammer should have got you a flamebait mod.

      There is nothing more for you here.

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
    8. Re:Ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You spammers have NO IDEA of the collateral damage you cause... we USED to have a really nice web and email server, making us about $500/month (not enough to pay the bills, but it's my food money).

      BECAUSE of you spammers, we get 80% spam into our system - which has limited resources (hard drive and performance).

      None of our users want filters, but now we have few users, so you are saying that I now have to give up my food money so you can drive a spiffy car and live in a Phat Cat Condo?

      Dude, you are stepping on so many toes it is sickening. Then you have the audacity to run dictionary atttacks against our server, depriving even MORE users their Email and web access.

      So hail to the anti-spammers, more power to them, and just wait until we get our anti-spam system online... You are going to be digging so deep to find ANY mail gateway, that you would think you were digging for diamonds... and everywhere you go, you will be hunted and exposed.

      we are proud to announce the shutdown of at least 250 spammer proxies, and if you think you can access those zombie machines you infected without being detected, you are in for a rude awakening and get to see what the world looks like between those metallic bars in your jail cell.

    9. Re:Ridiculous by jcr · · Score: 1

      First, it's not illegal to send unsolicited emails.

      Depends on the jurisdiction. It takes a while sometimes for legislation to catch up with petty thieves like you.

      Second, it's not illegal to use passive defensive measures to block said spam.

      Interesting. In this statement, you concede that spamming is an agressive act. That makes you the aggressor, and the guy who took you down the defender. Ergo, he's right, you're wrong, now fuck off and leave the net to honest people.

      Aggressive anti-spam activists should be locked up.

      Fuck you. You tried to make a living off of millions of counts of petty theft, and if you got away without getting the shit kicked out of you, then you got far less punishment than you deserve.

      I worked briefly as a spammer, but then lost my income as a result of an anti-spam hacker with a chip on his shoulder.

      Good for him!

      Lets just say that it's not a pleasant experience.

      It's not supposed to be pleasant, you greasy little shit-stain. I hope you're still having post-traumatic stress symptoms.

      There's no use for vigilantes on the internet.

      On the contrary! This guy got you to quit spamming, didn't he?

      I'd say that's one *excellent* use for vigilantes on the internet.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    10. Re:Ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, there ARE laws against things like, oh... I dunno, FRAUD, which cover about 99% of the spam out there. Not to mention that by abusing open relays and whatnot is causing financial damage to countless companies, which is worse than any cracker has ever done to you. Because of people like you, my ISP just raised my subscription rates AGAIN. Thankfully I live in the US, and have broadband, but do you have ANY idea how many people in Europe are paying PER MINUTE for this kind of crap? Do you have any idea how much MY income is affected by false positives on spam filters? Try up to $6000 USD per client. Of course, the only alternative is to have an inbox so clogged up with spam that I'm losing even MORE business because I can't find legitimate correspondence among the garbage.

      --Posting as AC, because I just may have been that vigilante

    11. Re:Ridiculous by rbird76 · · Score: 1

      Courtesy is a two-way street. If you want people to act reasonably towards you, then you must do the same. Sending hundreds, thousands, or more unrequested messages for products that are likely to be useless at best is not a reasonable act. The USPS made chain letters illegal because the letters cost resources (paid for in part by other users) that could instead be used for more constructive purposes; spam has the same effect, but on individuals, rather than a single entity. It costs people money and time to deal with material that does no one but spammers any good.

      Since spammers insist on depriving legitimate users of their rights, and governments can't do much, why are spammers indignant about vigilantes? Spammers use the impunity of the absence of law to protect themselves, but then claim the presence of law to protect them when they get tagged. Spammers can't have it both ways. If the law doesn't apply to spammers, and they can use other people's email and personal data without their permission, then they are fair game to receive the same treatment. If there are rules and protections for spammers, then they have to play within those rules. You can't have it both ways. I don't want anyone to be hurt, but I can understand a good deal of the anger of people here, particularly since Slashdot has many of the people who have to spend their time protecting against, cleaning up after, and being victimized by spammers. You really shouldn't expect people to feel any differently.

      If I went around to bars knocking over people's beers and yelling propaganda at them, eventually I would be arrested. If no police existed to do so, eventually I would probably get my butt kicked, and I wouldn't be suprised if some the patrons ganged up on me and showed me the errors of my ways. Why do you expect spammers (who operate in similar ways) not to be subject to the same rules of cause and effect in human behavior?

  31. Re:You hypocrites by dreadnougat · · Score: 1

    "If you don't want to receive spam, don't connect to the Internet, or don't have an e-mail address."

    Hmmm... I think you're right, he would've seen the light on his own.

    How about we modify this quote a bit...

    "If you don't want to recieve hourly death threats, don't use a phone"

    Hypocrites indeed. They harrassed him with phone calls BECAUSE he was harrassing people with emails. You know, to force it through his thick skull that what he was doing was generally pissing people off?

  32. Did you forget? by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Didn't you forget about the battle with the two year old over the domain Veronica.org?

    1. Re:Did you forget? by zedmelon · · Score: 1
      I don't remember hearing about it. But now, the domain just redirects to http://www.samsdirect.com/, a domains-for-sale site. How was the case decided?

      The article you linked says that if Sams loses the case, he'll move the site to www.veronica.cc, but that just leads to a "this domain was registered at eNIC" page.

      --
      Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
    2. Re:Did you forget? by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 1

      When the jugheads at Archie comics realized what PR mess they stepped into when they threated the domain dedicated to a 2 y/o girl named Veronica, they backed down.

    3. Re:Did you forget? by zedmelon · · Score: 1
      Okay, I figured that might be the case since there's no "Archie Comics" redirect, but why aren't there photos and birth stats of a young child there?

      Jeez, is there any possibility where I can put the word there there?

      --
      Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
  33. Smut to children not a crime? by gbnewby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is something I don't understand. I hope someone can explain or point me to an explanation of what I will try to describe. We all know there are very few laws against spam, and jurisdiction problems even if such laws exist.

    Explain to me why it's not easy to demonstrate that someone that puts explicit spam in a child's mailbox isn't committing some sort of other crime. I don't mean "get a good mortgage rate," I mean some of the bad porn related stuff we all see, at least periodically.

    So, hypothetically, let's say it's against the law in California to send some gang-bang smut ad to young Timmy. What is preventing the district attorneys, Timmy's mom, etc. from getting an injunction against John Doe? From a subpoena being issued?

    Forget for now that tracing back the originator is tough. I'm asking, can't they be charged with a crime in, say, California? THEN, if they're discovered, OR if they ever travel to California & get caught (say, for a speeding ticket), they'll be in deep doo-doo.

    This costs money, takes time, and doesn't find the spammers, I agree. But it will make a spammer who wants to go to a conference or travel think twice....and maybe open a whole new dot-com business opportunity: bounty hunters for the charged-but-not-yet-caught spammers.

    Someone please explain why these people aren't guilty of crimes that are not spam specific, and why they can't be charged in jurisdictions where the spam is received.

    1. Re:Smut to children not a crime? by freeweed · · Score: 1

      I'll play devil's advocate here:

      Just because you might find something offensive, does not make it illegal.

      I may not have received every nasty spam there is, but to date I've never seen anything in my inbox worth putting someone in jail for.

      Little Johnny will discover breasts eventually, it's not that big a deal.

      --
      Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
    2. Re:Smut to children not a crime? by reboot · · Score: 1

      I live in Iowa. ARE there any conferences here to go too?

    3. Re:Smut to children not a crime? by elemental23 · · Score: 1

      Just because you might find something offensive, does not make it illegal.

      True, but I think the original poster's point is that there are already laws in place against making pornography available to minors. Why wouldn't porn spam fall into the same catagory as those "Anal Gang Bang Vol III", etc, DVDs?

      --
      I like my women like my coffee... pale and bitter.
    4. Re:Smut to children not a crime? by KinCross · · Score: 1

      If the spam contains pornographic material in itself, there might be a leg to stand on, but if all it provides is a link to a site that screens for minors, there's really not much you can do.

      Of course, all you need is a few strategically placed dots to avoid crossing the line.

      --
      -- secret asIAN man (not Secret Asian Man)
  34. what if people actually start spamming by by snkmoorthy · · Score: 2, Funny

    subscribing after getting the following: The Ultimate Bulk Email Solution Has Finally Arrived! If you have a product, service, information or a message you would like to get out to millions of potential buyers, then this is the only way to go. No other form of marketing can compare. You may already have a web site. If you do, then you know that search engine submissions don't work and paying for an Internet classified ad doesn't work either. Also, if you are already sending email messages, but are having trouble keeping an email connection, then your troubles ar over! The answer is....EMAIL BOMBER! THE NEW HIGHSPEED UNTRACABLE EMAIL RELAY NETWORK! Look below at the many features "Email Bomber" has to offer..... >SEND OVER 150,000 EMAILS AN HOUR WITH A 28.8 MODEM! (Sends faster with DSL, Cable or T1). >YOUR LOCAL ISP ACCOUNT WON'T BE SHUT OFF! >YOUR EMAIL WILL BE SENT DIRECTLY THROUGH OUR RELAY SERVERS! >NO TRACE OF YOUR ISP IN THE HEADERS! >100% UPTIME..OUR SERVERS NEVER GO DOWN! >YOUR EMAIL CAMPAIGN WILL BE COMPLETELY LEGAL! >NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED Full 24 hour technical support! HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE AND WHAT OUR SERVICE CAN DO FOR YOU!
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    Want to be removed from our email list?
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    We hope you enjoy reading our messages. However, if you'd rather not receive future e-mails from us,
    Click Here To be removed from our list.
    Thank you for your cooperation.
    ----I'm not signing anything---

  35. Spamming.. by euxneks · · Score: 1

    I wonder if he's ever got spam from his own company?

    --
    in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
  36. Turnaround is fair. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I find it amazing that people like him seem quite happy to send 100 million emails out, but if the tables are turned they cry in their beer. Seems that everytime one of the spammers is exposed in the press, they are like roaches running for cover.

    Maybe it's time to shine the light on the rest of them out there, lets see how many can take what they dish out.

  37. Further Info gleaned from newsnet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Domain name:
    RXMEDICAL.TK
    Organisation:
    N/A
    Shane Atkinson
    P.O. 36289 Merivale
    8030 Christchurch
    New Zealand
    Phone: 3-3654487
    Fax:
    E-mail: webmaster@teenagejuice.com
    Domain Nameservers:
    NS.A1X.NET
    NS.MPGPERFUMES.COM
    Domain registered: 07/02/2003
    Record will expire on: 07/02/2005
    Record maintained by: Dot TK Domain Registry

  38. Good Job! by corgicorgi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Good job on publishing this guy's name. Now he tasted his own medicine and closed shop.

    This is a great way to get rid of spammers. People should be personally responsible for their own actions.

  39. Here it is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    From my whitepages:

    Atkinson Shane
    2 O'Neill Ave Harewood Belfast
    0-3-323 6484

    And that's in Christchurch, New Zealand.

    1. Re:Here it is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so that's +64 3 323 6484

    2. Re:Here it is by gonaddespammed.com · · Score: 1

      I hope that you verified this first. Good work if you did. I hope someone runs the cunt over.

    3. Re:Here it is by jcr · · Score: 2, Informative

      So, is that 1-0-3-323-6484 from the USA?

      BTW, is there any postal code that goes with that address?

      I'm sure Mr. Atkinson could use a few brochures from various evangelical organizations who might help him to understand the commandments.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    4. Re:Here it is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need the number you normally dial for international call, then the New Zealand country code (64), follow by the number.

      Dunno the postal code, but mail will get deliver as long as you put in the city and country in addition to the address.

    5. Re:Here it is by jameslore · · Score: 1

      +64 3 323 6484

      We try to avoid postal codes. There being but 4 million of us it's not too much of an issue :-)

      We do have them, but you don't need them, and they are extremely vague...

    6. Re:Here it is by dotgain · · Score: 1
      Please, leave it alone. Even if you're right, it means 10 other people who have posted addresses for one "S Atkinson" are wrong, and innocent people will be getting annoyed.

      Just because it's New Zealand doesn't mean there'll only be one "S Atkinson". These +5 informative mods are certainly not verified, and not fair. I'll be making sure I show this in any metamoderation.

      Anybody who follows up on these phone numbers is just as bad as the spammer. I don't wish him pain or suffering, I'm just glad he's (for the moment_ OUT OF A JOB!

    7. Re:Here it is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For those of you unfamiliar with international dialling, that would be 011-64-3-323-6484 from the US and 00-64-3-323-6484 from most European countries.

    8. Re:Here it is by funkdancer · · Score: 1

      What's wrong with wishing them pain and suffering? Seriously?!

      They're consistently wasting my time and making me pay hard earned cash on anti spam programs that are only partly successful in removing stuff I never asked for. If one of those guys had the nerve to show up at my place, I'd seriously be wanting to smack his head in.

      The turn the other cheek thing doesn't quite work with these guys. So fuggit.

      I say: One down, a thousand more to go.

      --
      ISO certified == THX certified
  40. He is from NZ by wadiwood · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They're a bit behind the times on things like
    Road rage
    Locking up the house and having a safe room
    Gun Injuries and Murders
    Driving on the same side of the road as everyone else going in the same direction
    Postcodes - there are no postcodes in NZ
    And the fact that there is too much spam!

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
    1. Re:He is from NZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We have postcodes in NZ, I'm in Christchurch, 8005 -

    2. Re:He is from NZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Postcodes - there are no postcodes in NZ

      They exist, they're just not widely used.

    3. Re:He is from NZ by Zilch · · Score: 1
      ...Postcodes - there are no postcodes in NZ

      Really? Mine was 8001 when I lived there. Maybe you should give your local post office a call.

      Oh...and we drive on the left. Be careful. Driving on the right can get you killed.

      Zilch

    4. Re:He is from NZ by kalka · · Score: 0

      Peter Jackson is from NZ. That's what makes this country great!

      --
      Sieg
  41. Naive? by Squidgee · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Naive? I doubt it. More likely those comments were to paint him as a kind man; so that way, he doesn't look like the scumbag he is.

    This happens a lot, actually; criminals do it all the time...

  42. Re:You hypocrites by marko123 · · Score: 1

    It's not hypocrisy when you're doing X solely to the guys who do X to make them realize X is wrong.

    What if X = sodomy?

    Cheers,

    Confused.

    --
    http://pcblues.com - Digits and Wood
  43. Further Info by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now I'm guessing that he is the Richmond address because that suburb is very close to the Merivale Post Office.

    You can see a map at:

    http://www.ccc.govt.nz/maps/Wises/map14/MAP14.as p

  44. Lets just see... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I worked briefly as a spammer...

    Lets just wait and see how many people add you to their "foe" list.

  45. morons refuse to terminate planet/population.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    rescue program (expanded from the formerly unknown oil for babies initiative), despite excessive badtoll around mynuts won/va lairIE's patentdead PostBlock(tm) devise, in conjunktion with robbIE.

    no matter.

    don't come crying to us when there's only won channel/os left (that definitely won't be the fault of robbIE alone).

    nothing has changed since the last phonIE ?pr? ?firm? generated 'news' brIEf. lots of good folks (see also: innocents) are being killed/mutikated every day) if anything the situations are continuing to deteriorate. you already know that.

    you can pretend all you want. our advise is to be as far away from the walking dead contingent as possible, when the big flash occurs. you wouldn't want to get any of that evile on you.

    as to the free unlimited energy plan, as the lights come up, more&more folks will stop being misled into sucking up more&more of the infant killing barrolls of crudeness, & learn that it's more than ok to use newclear power generated by natural (hydro, solar, etc...) methods. of course more information about not wasting anything/behaving less frivolously is bound to show up, here&there.

    cyphering how many babies it costs for a barroll of crudeness, we've decided to cut back, a lot, on wasteful things like giving monIE to felons, to help them destroy the planet/population.

    no matter. the #1 task is planet/population rescue. the lights are coming up. we're in crisis mode. you can help.

    the unlimited power (such as has never been seen before) is freely available to all, with the possible exception of the aforementioned walking dead.

    consult with/trust in yOUR creator. more breathing. vote with yOUR wallet. seek others of non-aggressive intentions/behaviours. that's the spirit, moving you.

    pay no heed/monIE to the greed/fear based walking dead.

    each harmed innocent carries with it a bad toll. it will be repaid by you/us. the Godless felons will not be available to make reparations.

    pay attention. that's definitely affordable, plus you might develop skills which could prevent you from being misled any further by phonIE ?pr? ?firm? generated misinformation.

    good work so far. there's still much to be done. see you there. tell 'em robbIE.

    1. Re:morons refuse to terminate planet/population.. by JessLeah · · Score: 0

      What the fuck?

      And what's with the "IE" and "OUR" crap?

    2. Re:morons refuse to terminate planet/population.. by WuphonsReach · · Score: 1

      eh, it's an AC post - emphasis on the 'C'

      You expect it to be readable?

      --
      Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?
  46. Re:Counter to the spirit of the Internet by matrix0040 · · Score: 3, Funny

    by the same logic

    if u dont want obscene phone calls disconnect your phone or dont have a phone line.

    so start calling ;-)

  47. Supposedly a news post from the spammer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hi Everybody. Shane here. I would like to say that ive closed my spam
    opperation, deleted everything and sacked all the affiliates. This is
    perminant we will not reopen. Im truely sorry for anyone who got
    emailed or offended, but i can assure it was the last.

    I hope oneday the hatrid i have created with you guys and girls can
    eventually be forgiven. I never ment any harm in what I was doing
    If anyone wants to contact me,

    email is best - support@sapublishings.com

    1. Re:Supposedly a news post from the spammer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah... that's much better. My email box is not being spammed so much now, and I can feel the difference! Thanks Shane.

  48. As seen on TV by Alien54 · · Score: 2, Informative
    and how does this guy plan on marketing his new websites?

    You obviously have not seen the late night informercials advertising how you can have your very own internet marketing business, where you can make money fast in only a few hours per day.

    Yes, you can be a spammer - if you sign up todayu!

    Scary, No?

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  49. Someone who should be up for darwin awards soon? by node159 · · Score: 1

    Man what dumb ass, watch the video clip and you will understand. http://www.tvone.co.nz/programmes/holmes/ I guess some people never learn.

    --
    GPLv2: I want my rights, I want my phone call! DRM: What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak?
  50. Re:Possible Matches - have fun ;) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    here is the address

    Atkinson Shane

    2 O'Neill Ave Harewood Belfast

    0-3-323 648

  51. legality vs. morality by hankaholic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't it amazing that people like this seem to equate legality with morality?

    There are lots of things which one can do which are legal but immoral, or moral but illegal. "I thought it was legal" is never an acceptable excuse for doing something which you know to be immoral.

    --
    Somebody get that guy an ambulance!
    1. Re:legality vs. morality by radja · · Score: 1

      ofcourse, the trouble with morals is that they're not absolute: people have different morals. Nudity and eating meat for instance are considered immoral by some, but moral by others..

      --

      No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
      --Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
    2. Re:legality vs. morality by hankaholic · · Score: 1

      How many value systems would endorse trying to sell penis pills to people without any attempt to verify their age?

      Are you suggesting that we should condone any behaviour which hasn't been deemed illegal by local authorities?

      Laws are not absolute either -- they're quite subject to the whims of local legislature. In all 50 states you'll find many, many people who would consider exposing a child to pornographic emails or infringing upon another's ability to use a communications medium for useful purposes to be immoral.

      At least morals don't require a lawyer to interpret.

      And if you can show me someone who considers nudity to be immoral, I'll show you one fucked-up individual, since considering "nudity" to be immoral would put a moral strain upon activities like changing one's underwear or bathing.

      --
      Somebody get that guy an ambulance!
    3. Re:legality vs. morality by radja · · Score: 1

      basically, I do agree with you. But let's take a slightly more controversial point: nude beaches. some oppose them, some don't. I also don't see a problem with a nude resort advertising a picture that includes nudity, during children's TV.

      now it's much less clear-cut... and it's all legal.

      and yes, I'm also suggesting that in some cases we should condone behaviour deemed illegal, if the law itself is immoral. what I condone depends more on morals than on laws.

      --

      No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
      --Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
  52. He got off lightly by The+Famous+Brett+Wat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Only 20 or so angry phone calls? I've had my personal phone numbers included in "Joe Job" spam (where a spammer deliberately impersonates you in order to cause you grief), and my phone rang off the hook all day with irate callers. Bit of an uneven playing field, wouldn't you say? I've never sent any spam at all, and I've had it far worse.

    --
    proof, n. A demonstration that a conclusion is implied by certain premises and axioms.
  53. Yes - this is the correct address! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Looks like he actually lives just outside Christchurch.

    This was confirmed by NZ company records.

  54. Yes I am sure many are Naive. by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    wondering if he and other spammers are as really naive as the article makes out.

    It is quite possible that they are that naive a lot of them may not be on every mailing list on the planet then they get a couple of Spam mails then it seems like a good idea. I doubt that many of them don't realize the scale of the problem. As well many Spammers are the same type of people that read and fall for Spam. So they actually think they can make good money at it and many do. But like with many other things people tend to fail to stop and analysis what they do on a grand scheme of things.
    If I had no moral objection to it spamming seems like an interesting area of Work that is really interesting at an intellectual level. Working on methods to optimize bandwidth to maximize the amount of email out. Finding a method of hiding your true identity but allowing people to contact you to purchase. Understanding the limits of computer laws to allow yourself to use other computers without people knowing but still be legal. Finding ways around filters and other things. It would be interesting work in an intellectual level, but so would seeing a child grow up in a completely isolated of any nurture to see what are the true human instinct and what is what we learn. But there are a lot of people who have a hard time understanding more then themselfs and forget to see what they are doing is wrong.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  55. how profitable by the-build-chicken · · Score: 0

    He would not give details on how profitable his business was, but said it allowed him to keep a nice car and own a house.

    So US$3.65 pa...just say that...I make 4 bucks U.S. a year...we gotta stop this guy, if he double his annual income, he'll be able to buy the north island...then he can do whatever he wants!

  56. right... by tkill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ".. NZ based spammer who has shut up shop..."


    thats just what he wants us think. He is probably just buying time to find out how his details were traced and how to restart operations again...only this time making sure his privacy remains protected.....

    'The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist,' -the Usual Suspects

  57. Think of it this way... by jamesh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... if he got caught/found out, then he probably is just naive. Any who knew what they were doing wouldn't get caught.

    1. Re:Think of it this way... by Plugh · · Score: 1
      Any who knew what they were doing wouldn't get caught.

      Doesn't matter. Once there are enough horror stories on "A Current Affair" and other pop-news outlets, about people who "went for a quick buck on the Internet... and had their life ruined!", nobody in their right mind will get tempted to make a quick buck this way.

  58. Oh great... by taped2thedesk · · Score: 3, Funny
    "I'll just stick to search engines and web sites - that's still plenty of fun and money."
    Does that mean when I screw up and type www.gogole.com, instead of just a search engine, I'll get a penis enlargement ad?
    1. Re:Oh great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      at the Moment...
      www.google.com is accessable by

      www.gogle.com
      www.gooogle.com
      google.com

      and for users of some browsers, probably the same minnus the .com

  59. Re:You hypocrites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1 or 2 spams a day?
    where do you get that number from?

    if you have an email address long enough you get 5-6 every 15 minutes

  60. Re:Heh - New Zealand is far too small to try to hi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah. He still doesn't think he did anything wrong! Also, he says he was getting 10 - 20 US$60 orders per day. That's US$600 - US$1200 a day! No wonder he wasn't sorry.

  61. Calling up spammers by billstewart · · Score: 4, Funny
    If one person called up a spammer's toll-free number and sang them the Monty Python Spam Song or Weird Al Yankovic's Spam song, they might think it was a bit odd, but if a whole bunch of people started calling up, singing them a spam song, and hanging up, they might start to think it was a _movement_.

    And if one person called up their toll-free number and left them a phone number they didn't want to talk to, like their ISP's phone number, or Interpol's, or the FBI's anonymous tip line, or their local police office, or their country's government's people-selling-bad-medicine bureaucracy's complaint line, or other spammers' toll-free numbers, or other spammers' ISP contact numbers, they might also start to think they were getting slashdotted.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re:Calling up spammers by zentigger · · Score: 1
      Maybe we should call up them spammers toll free lines and leave messages to be called back at the other spammers number that wasn't toll free.

      That would sure confuse 'em!

      --

      the above is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect that of the little voices in my head

    2. Re:Calling up spammers by MegaFur · · Score: 1
      If one person called up a spammer's toll-free number and sang them the Monty Python Spam Song or Weird Al Yankovic's Spam song, they might think it was a bit odd, but if a whole bunch of people started calling up, singing them a spam song, and hanging up, they might start to think it was a _movement_.

      Maybe we should play Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Gunthree.

      --
      Furry cows moo and decompress.
    3. Re:Calling up spammers by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Collect call this number (looks like someone trying to recruit me to become a spammer...):

      904-695-4961

    4. Re:Calling up spammers by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Spam-collect-fax here: 1-309-403-4441

      Get free pc-to-phone spyware and spam this guy to hell... and then use ad-aware...

    5. Re:Calling up spammers by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      go to atmail.com login as fuck_spam@atmail.com password fuck and fuck up any spam addy you can - allows pop3/smtp connections too... have fun overloading spammers... if it's a fake addy, at least nobody's mailbox will be overflowing...

    6. Re:Calling up spammers by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      forgot to say, add any spammer addys to the address book, and spam everyone in the abook whenever you login :-) 5MB limit, so be nice and clean it out, and don't be afraid to use the mail fwd feature - forwards all recieved mail to an address of your choice (have fun - I know you're a spammed BOFH at heart...)

    7. Re:Calling up spammers by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Sign that addy up for zillions of newsletters. Use ti as a fake addy. Make spammers scared of that addy.

    8. Re:Calling up spammers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Guthrie, but well spotted.

      It's the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Spam Movement, and all ya gotta do to join is shoot em the next time they send anythin!

  62. Talk about crocodile tears by The+Tyro · · Score: 1


    If he's sincere, I'll bet it was the implied threat against his family that got to him... probably sent his little conscience a-flutter.

    I dearly hope no well-meaning geek actually threatened this guy's family; that's really way over the line, folks. The probability is that the avalanche of malice he received made him wonder what someone possessed of such hatred might do... what lengths they would go to...

    Good riddance... I hope he's a better man because of it (though I won't hold my breath).

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
  63. Here you go: His photograph and video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  64. It's those damn proxies... by quinkin · · Score: 1
    I agree in principle, it is only the ubiquity of the email spam reflector proxies (on some clueless cable users home pc etc.) that encourages restraint in this matter.

    I would not like to think that I could possibly be persecuting an innocent party.

    Even in the case where it is in fact the spammer in question there tend to be stronger laws, in most countries, for phone/personal/snail-mail harassment.

    Q.

    --
    Insert Signature Here
  65. Preferably an out-of-town meeting... by billstewart · · Score: 1
    As long as they need to drive at least an hour, or fly somewhere, and get to listen to your organizational presentation on why spamming is the last thing in the world that your company would ever consider using for advertising, it's a good start, but if you can also get enough information about who they are and what techniques they're using to avoid spam-blocking, and post it on the net, that can be fun too.

    I'm not in the right place organizationally for spammers to sell me service (though I've had to help some of our sales people explain our anti-spam policy to people who wanted to buy our ISP services in simple one- or two-syllable words so they could get the concept...)

    But I have had telemarketers leave me a voice-mail about getting lawn service - and they were clearly calling numbers in sequential order, at my office, in the middle of a concrete block of downtown, in a city where several thousand phone numbers in a row belong to offices that aren't anywhere near any grass. I probably should have asked them to drive by for an estimate, but this was before the spammer epidemic really took off and I wasn't as mean.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re:Preferably an out-of-town meeting... by HidingMyName · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nah, the right thing is to have them drive out for a business meeting, and instead of you showing up, have a stream of vendors come in and pitch their wares to the spammers. Perhaps if they realize that being mislead and finding out that they had to listen to advertisements instead of using their time developing opportunities or commmunication, they might take the hint.

    2. Re:Preferably an out-of-town meeting... by Ryokos_boytoy · · Score: 1

      Haha, freaking genius. But you left out the part where you shove him to his knees and put two bullets in the back of his head once he's learned his lesson. Oh, right. He's a spammer, he'll never LEARN his lesson

      --


      If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it. -- Calvin Coolidge
  66. Re:Someone who should be up for darwin awards soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just to think that he thought it was ok, and that people had the option to unsubscribe! Sheyeah!

  67. Times must be changing. by wadiwood · · Score: 1

    I tried to get postcodes for Wellington, and for Paekakariki (skuse spellin), and the people that lived there didn't know what they were.

    But I confess that was 1998.

    Having read the stuff.co.nz article about this particular guy, seems like he knew exactly what he was doing and how popular it was.

    Somebody has posted an address for Shane, in Christchurch. I hope it's the same person. Otherwise it would be like being "Dave Nelson" in a USA airport.

    Are the private school kids still wearing straw boaters and striped blazers in Christchurch?

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
    1. Re:Times must be changing. by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 1

      They were probaly around then. But nobody seems to know what thiers' is in my experience, probably 'cause they're optional.

  68. I'm already in paradize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I finally managed to install TMDA. The installation is not for the faint of heart, but the end result: Usable email again -- after all these years.

    After I blacklisted mail9.com (they confirmed every spam assigned to them), I have received zero spam. TMDA filters out a hundred messages per day.

  69. Re:You hypocrites by kaltkalt · · Score: 1

    Well, if they like sodomy, chances are they won't mind being sodomized. This "do unto them what they do unto you" method only works for things that are antisocial and extremely irritating (spam, posting personal info in public, etc.) The theory is once they realize how annoying it is, they'll stop doing it. Now, if someone is anally raping others, I would be all for that person being anally raped. Once they get their asshole forcefully torn open against their will, they will stop doing the same thing to others. Kinda neat how that works out. I think it's all about inner karma.

    --

    Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
  70. Interesting by dtfinch · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's been 20 days since I've received a penile enlargement ad, though I've received nearly 700 spams on different subjects over that period.

    Could it be that one guy was responsible for most of those ads?

    Ack! I almost clicked submit having left the word "ad" out of the first paragraph. Glad I caught it.

    1. Re:Interesting by slagish666 · · Score: 1
      I'm still getting penis enlargement spam, but not as much as before. It's probably true that only a few spammers are responsible for most of the messages.

      --
      "Consider the lillies of the goddamn field."
    2. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting how spam varies. I've had 17 penis enlargement spams in my mailbox today and that's nothing unusual. And I don't even ahve a penis to enlarge!

      kate

    3. Re:Interesting by bigredrushe · · Score: 1

      ...you must be...married? :D

  71. Safe Room? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every room in my house is safe, I have the right to bear arms, and I do! I don't even lock the doors at night, sleep with my windows open in summer. WTF is the world coming to? Thank God I'm an American Country boy!

  72. Almost ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They were probably just disappointed customers.

    No. They were very satisfied customers, spontaneously calling up to praise Shane for their newly enlarged penises!

    "Well now that it's 12 inches long, whatever shall I do with it? Why don't I come over to your house and thank you personally ..."

  73. We all know were Pie'-kok is by wadiwood · · Score: 1

    because that's where [insert name of famous rugby union player here] comes from.

    At least that's what the post office guy told me, when I asked him for the post code.

    I did put "North Island", or "South Island" on to the envelopes just to be sure. But after travelling round, I discovered that NZ is not like the "West Island" (Oz), in that they don't have five suburbs or towns called "Beaconsfield" located an average of 1500km apart. And if they must name things after places in the "Old Country" (UK), they'd match particular UK regions to particular NZ regions so the names didn't repeat. There aren't even NZ States or Provinces. Cool. Although there are regional divisions for Rugby teams mostly. Go Otago!

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
    1. Re:We all know were Pie'-kok is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
      because that's where [insert name of famous rugby union player here] comes from.

      At least that's what the post office guy told me, when I asked him for the post code.
      Let me guess, that rugby player was Christian Cullen? (otherwise known as the Paekakariki Express).

      He's right, if you addressed a letter to:

      31 High St
      The town Christian Cullen comes from
      New Zealand

      it would get there, no problems.

      And we do have post codes, we just don't use them. I always have to look mine up when I need it (only ever when it is a compulsory field on a form, though I usually just put n/a).

      If you do need to know a New Zealand postcode, use this. Or find the name of a local rugby player who did good.
    2. Re:We all know were Pie'-kok is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you not familiar with why the different parts of New Zealand are referred to by terms such as 'Auckland', 'Waikato', 'Wellington', 'Canterbury', and 'Otago' ?

      Those are generally referred to as Provinces.

      That is why [insert famous rugby player here] plays in what is called the National Provincial Championship, commonly referred to as the NPC ;)

    3. Re:We all know were Pie'-kok is by Zilch · · Score: 1
      There aren't even NZ States or Provinces.

      Really? Because when I was there I lived in Canterbury.

      (I like your sig by the way)

      Zilch

  74. Re:You hypocrites by zakezuke · · Score: 4, Informative

    You cry when someone sends you 1 or 2 spams a day, but then you go ahead and cheer on the people who do stuff like this? That's fucking unbelievable. Have you no sense? It's hypocrisy like this that's going to keep spam a problem forever.

    Any responce via phone to spam is a *solisited* responce. "Stop sending me spam" would be a very approperate responce to such a foofoo head.

    Because the system is automated, the guy is going to get several million responces to the spam he sent. If you run a business based on this model, you are required in most countries to be taken off their mailing list if you ask.

    So, I don't see it as being hyprocritical at all. The guy runs a business of contacting people. If people don't want to be contacted, they have every right to ask him to stop.

    --
    There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  75. Slashdotters missing the bigger picture... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...rackshack.com was hosting someone who was sending out 100 million emails per day?

    Either they didn't know (might wanna try selling them the Brooklyn Bridge if this is the case) or they did know.

    Is rackshack.com sales policy to sell services to a 100 million per day spammer, until the spammer gets caught, in which case the spammer has to relocate?

    Is rackshack.com not monitoring its traffic?

    100 million emails per day not coming to rackshack.com's attention? Or did it?

    Can anyone explain how to ascertain what ip address blocks belong to rackshack.com so that I can block them and any future spammer hosts? I know you can do this through spews, but I'd like to be able to keep rackshack.com blacklisted on my own server after they succeed in being removed from Spews, and I haven't proceeded to the point of using spam blocking services yet.

    Can anyone describe a gnu tool, or other app, (like "dig" for finding out ip address info) or some other procedure, for finding out ip addresses of other spam hosts? Not specific hosts, just the generic procedures.

    Also, can anyone describe how to find out ip addresses of specific countries to block? I'm not expecting any emails from any of the former soviet countries, asian countries, nigeria, and dozens to maybe hundreds more. I won't be missing anything by blocking them.

    Thanks. This will probably cut down on a lot of the junk my family is getting.

  76. A serious proposal by Plugh · · Score: 1
    I've had SPAM-vertisers try to sign up the company I work for as a client, and I've had them try to convince me that it's OK to advertise that way.
    You should have invited them to a meeting, and the kicked the crap out of them when they showed up.

    Seriously, I have an idea. Maybe a social fix is the best solution for this problem. Please take this for the honest proposal that it is.

    Anyone in a responsible position at, say, a bank, drugstore, or any business that would be attractive to an "email marketer" as a client, could help put LOTS of spammers out of business.

    Just arrange a meeting to talk about the advertising services they could provide for you. Thank them, take their contact information, and post it to a relevant newsgroup.

    This would not be immoral or even rude. You'd publish only the public information on their business cards -- nothing confidential.
    Let the mobbed masses do to lots more of them what they did to the spammer that's the subject of the article.

  77. TV interview by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I saw the interview last night and the article in the paper this morning. I think a lot of people missed the _tone_ that he was using. The interviewer also missed the obvious question - just how fucking big was the spammers penis?

    Basically the guy was smirking, and showing the product on camera (bottle of pills). He got at least 5 minutes of prime-time TV coverage plus major coverage in all the major daily papers (hey not much happening in NZ now the sheep population is down and the rugby is going well ).

    I think he just brought himself a whole lot of lovely free advertising in which to continue his bloody operations. I think he has no intent to stop - the 'story' was just more bullshit.

    Meanwhile the enquiry in the UK is finding that the Iraq war was vaporware. How is the enquiry going in the US now that WMD's (or anything else) still have not turned up...

  78. Response to all comments. by bencom · · Score: 1

    I am saddened and upset by most of the comments I have read here. I could not read it all...

    I will try not to be nastey however as one closer to the action than most of you I find most of this drival offensive.

    I have received his spam. I will say no more on this. I did start writting a whole lot but I don't
    need to justify anything or say anything that could make life more difficult for me.

    Mr Aitkinson is most likely out of business.
    Not for spamming but because he has been accused
    of breaking three New Zealand laws.

    Mr Atkinson has been exposed because of actions taken against his operation. He has been at it a year. He only recently exposed his true identity in whois information. Mistake or not it happened on the 15th of July 2003.

    Thanks to the NZ Herald reporter for finding the info. Me thinks a lucky hit... Hidden away in a
    news group it was yes.

    Mr Atkinson and his group have recently lost a large group of domain names. Something that has not happened to a spam operation before on this scale I think. Maybe I am wrong.

    Its a tricky little jigsaw puzzle.

    OK so we have got this far...

    What you should be doing?

    Be carefull my friend!

    If you are going to get involved get advice before doing so. Read the horror stories first. Unwitting newbies often do not realize the consequences of submitting spam source etc. And even people in an antipodian paradise are not immune/safe.

    Get involved on a different level.

    If you are a US citizen oppose Opt-in legislation!

    This will make it impossible for anyone outside America to stop spam. I can just see it now.

    But we are allowed...

    If you live in the normal world (Joke) get involved at your internet society level.

    ICANN is meant to be the parent body on the Internet. They regulate and monitor registrars
    who in turn are meant to regulate and monitor
    ip address range holders who in turn pass this on to there clients.

    THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!

    The Intenet is not self regulating and is being and has been regulated against by governments.

    Preasure the powers to be in your country to reach formal agreements with ICANN. Thats your registry that registers your domain name. Your provider whatever services you use. Make sure those agreements contain anti spam clauses.

    Given current technology spammers are not annonymous. ICANN was provided information that could have led to the tracing of this offender in late 2002.

    Finally a word for Mr Atkinson...

    I do not envy his position at all however I also
    would not like to see him physically harmed or harrased now that he has been uncovered.

    The issue is his ability to hide in the first place.

    He will now be dealt with by the authorities, investigated and prosecuted if warranted.

    Civil procedings against him are unlikely in this country.

    Keep your heads up... This is a win and a good win however the people associated with Mr Atkinson have come away from this relatively unscathed and the spam associated with the mother group still flows. They are still sending out large numbers each day as claimed. They are still sheltering within providers in countries like China and Brazil.

  79. Because by phorm · · Score: 1

    You can set up a phone number to reject any incoming collect calls. It would take about 10 calls and he'd probably just stick it on auto-reject

  80. So hes stopped, now clean up the mess by thogard · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Christchurch is a small town and I will run into the jerk at some time in the future and he owes me for every mesage my spam filters had to nuke. He better name every one of his "associates" and do it soon.

    Also I'll put up NZ$500 for the 1st person that can provide information to the proper authorites that leads to his arrest and jail time for this jerk. He broke NZ law by selling unlicensed drugs. If you want to claim it, get in touch with me. Any chance we can get this guy extradited someplace where he won't get a slap on the wrist? Maybe the US where peddling adult products to minors as well as selling illegal drugs will show the world that spaming is a bad idea.

    1. Re:So hes stopped, now clean up the mess by shaldannon · · Score: 1

      Just export him to .au and let the aborigines take care of him :)

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
  81. Re:Response to all comments. Correction of Opt-in by bencom · · Score: 2, Informative

    Damn made a mistake.... Oppose Opt-in should be... Oppose Opt-out. Sorry folks... Checked it several times too... Proposed legislation in the United States makes it your responsibility to Opt-out of a mailing list as opposed to the legislation due to be inacted in the European Union in October. Oppose all government legislation involving the internet! It all goes against the self governance/regulation principle.

  82. He's probably spamming you right now :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's easy to say in the public that I've stoppped spamming, most likely he already has a new server in a different network sending SPAM already ;)

  83. Calling out the lawyers (again) by qtp · · Score: 3, Informative

    Uppage there are a few of the expected calls for government regulation of email that we see every time there is a story about spam, and there are the obligitory anecdotes about the hundreds of spam emails that some poor souls find every day in thier inbox.

    So here is my usual post about how asking the government to regulate everything is a bad idea, and how I have little sympathy for the poor saps who are getting flooded with thousands of spam emails a day that makes it difficult for them to see the one or two legitimate emails that thier friends might send them each year.

    First law. Bad idea because it won't work. As long as there are different countries with seperate governments that have differing attitudes towards the internet, commerce, and law it will be impossible to legislate spam out of existance. That is not to say that I am supporting the idea of one government rulling all peoples or that I am advocating any sort if international treaty on regulating email and the internet.

    Far from it.

    What I am saying is there are good methods of reducing the flow of spam to your in-box to a trickle, possibly blocking the spam flow completely.

    Use a provider that is as concerned about stopping the spam as you are. That means no AOL, no MSN, no Hotmail, etc. These companies are notorious for not only allowing you to get spam flooded, but for allowing thier customers to send spam and not discontiuing accounts that are being used as fake "reply to" and "from" addresses. There are other companies that are just as irresponsible as the ones I mentioned, so you should not think that I am saying that these companies are the only ones that should be avoided.

    If you like using the same email and access provider (I've been hijacking friends access accounts for years now), then you should know that smaller access providers often are more responsive to user's (knowlegable and legitimate) complaints than large companies. As an added bonus, thier access rates tend to be low, and they are as if not more reliable than thier corporate competitors.

    If you like using a separate provider for email, ask around, do some searches, and choose one that has effective filtering/blocking of spam included in thier basic package.

    You can filter the mail yourself with one of the many spam blocking services or filters that are readily available on the internet. Here are some links to some of the blacklists and filters that I know about:

    ORDB

    MAPS

    junkfilter

    Bogofilter

    SpamCop

    SpamBouncer

    There are others, some services are free, some charge money. If you are going to use a filter on your own machine that is not part of a service, I highly reccomend that you stick with Free Software so you can learn something about how it works.

    You should learn as much about the problem and potential solutions as possible by reading articles about spam that may be not quite as sensational as the currently popular "spammer hunting" genre, but are a little richer in detail and technique. Here is a good primer including some good links, and there's lots of good info on dealing with spam around the web.

    You should attempt to encourage your provider to take an active role in helping users avoid spam troubles, either by providing information on how users can filter spam on thier own machines, by providing spam blocking/filtering service, or by allowing users to install thier own .procmailrc in thier shell account (if they provide thier subscribers with a shell acc

    --
    Read, L
  84. Vaporware... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Meanwhile the enquiry in the UK is finding that the Iraq war was vaporware. How is the enquiry going in the US now that WMD's (or anything else) still have not turned up.


    Let's see: Hitler Junior is dead. Hitler IIIrd is dead. Hitler Grand Jr. is dead...

    Hitler himself is in hiding...

    And from what I've seen, he's hiding either as Elvis, or the Queen of England.

    So let's recap: You take the word of anonymous cowards that someone is a spammer. Yet all the videos of torture, murder, suffering, chemical weapon attacks on kurds, support for terrorists (which terrorist was it that Hitler's news agency announced had "blown his own brains out" while in Hitler's "custody"?) All this is not enough for you to accept the fact that Hitler and his progeny had to be eliminated, right?

    Will you be waiting for mushroom cloud proof before you accept the fact that NKorea and Iran will have to be invaded as well?

    And while we are on the subject, why do you think we still have 150,000 or more troops on Iran's doorstep? Any guess why they haven't left yet?

    If you believe the Iraq war was fast, wait till you see how fast NKorea falls. Everything within 50+ miles of the 38th parallel will be obliterated on the first day in order to save South Korea.

    Now go back to your blood sport/anti-globalization protesting. With any luck, we'll have you as a guest on guantanamo bay very shortly.

    Smile as you go under...
    1. Re:Vaporware... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your ideas are articulated very well, which leads me to believe that you are being cynical, not ignorant, for it would be unlikely that someone who could express such ideas so well would actually believe them. Yes I get pissed off too, and don't have time to care, but if you really do your homework you'll find that the tree-hugging fags are right. I wish I could be more specific but I don't have time to care.

  85. Actually, that's no problem at all. by MickLinux · · Score: 1

    You can buy all the illegal drugs you want, and they can sell all the illegal drugs you want.

    They just cannot *deliver* them, or have them delivered, and you cannot take posession.

    It's kindof like the gold mines: you don't buy gold; you delay your taxes by buying stock in gold mines. They dig it out, they refine it; they never actually sell it. You take the tax writeoff (loss), and the ownership of the gold, both.

    Cocaine has lots of legitimate uses (umm, do they use it in making Novacaine? If not, it still is legally used to weight down the DOJ buildings in Miami, and keep them from blowing away in Tornados) if I could only think of one.

    Okay... I'm done with my daily Schozophrenic Thought For the Day.

    --
    Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
  86. Re:You hypocrites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I did that once, but fucked up and didn't block my number... now I'm getting death threats... just for calling a spammer and asking them not so send me anymore.

    Now, they are calling me up at 4 am almost nightly....

    Good thing my phone has an OFF switch... (grin)

  87. Re:Response to all comments. Correction of Opt-in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stay off the drugs, son.

  88. External circumstances by fire15k · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    No doubt that letter from SCO scared him into closing up shop. If I recall correctly, SCO has specific IP rights to all annoying matter that exists electronically. Shame on you, Shane.

    1. Re:External circumstances by wheany · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      You can stop making SCO jokes. You don't get any karma from funny-mods.

  89. Yes, the provinces are for Rugby teams by wadiwood · · Score: 1

    Or at least determining which Rugby team you should play in or support depending on where you live, right? I did mention Otago - for Rugby. The whole time I was there, I didn't hear the "provinces" referred to for any other reason. And I did ask. I think I even had a discussion with a regular inhabitant of the Beehive about it.

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
  90. Re:We all know where Pie'-kok is by wadiwood · · Score: 1

    [were != where - I thought that subject line looked funny] You're right: Christian Cullen. I vaguely remember a small speedy guy who travelled up the wing like a bullet. Trust NZ to have a harness racing horse named for him. Also travels fast. Why do so many Kiwis post as AC when you could post as a Kauri? or a Matai?

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
  91. The Lumber Cartel (tinlc) is not impressed. by Agent+R · · Score: 3, Informative

    "He said that since the article was published, anti-spam activists had been "having a field day". He had received more than 20 phone calls, five of them obscene."

    Obscene ones? Must be "thank-you" kisses from his penis enlargement customers.

    His personal information, street address and phone numbers were "plastered all over the web". The article also led to rackshack.com, the US web service that hosts Mr Atkinson's servers, being entered in the Spam Early Warning System list, which many networks use for blocking email traffic.

    I mentioned this before. Just remember folks.. SPEWS has your name, number, address, change-of-address, time when you eat, when you sleep, and when you realize your Preparation H is not working.

    "Rackshack gave notice that it would shut down two of Mr Atkinson's servers because of the listing, forcing him to move the servers to a different network."

    So Rackshack.. exactly how many thousands of abuse reports did you receive and ignore before SPEWS tossed you into the dungeon? I think you love your pink contracts a bit too much.

    saying that he "never intended to break any regulations".

    Rule #1. Rule #2.

    "I sort of feel good now about stopping this," he said.

    Rule #1. Rule #2.

    "I'll just stick to search engines and web sites - that's still plenty of fun and money."

    Rule #1. Rule #2. Rule #3. Russell's Corollary.

    Please use your favorite search engine to review the "Rules of Spam" or go here.

    --
    !@#$% whole-grain cereal. When I want fiber, I eat some wicker furniture. - G. Carlin
  92. "I have already banned my 5-year-old... by EzInKy · · Score: 2, Funny

    But Daddy you told me you provided a very much needed service to the world, why would you be ashamed to let me here about exactly what it is?

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
  93. not my vision of a spammer by unclefungus · · Score: 0

    I never though spammers were real people, I thought they were just people who lived in a cave or similar dark dreary place, with alot of computer screns for light and only coming outside at night, like me.

  94. Re: Spammer is not a false term by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you receive mail from someone that notifies about similar interests due to a newsletter you previously signed up for...
    It's *NOT SPAM*.

    It's not useless, unwanted, unrequested Spam. Okay, you didn't specifically ask for it, but they're acting in fairly good faith - unlike the 'scum of the earth' Spammers.

    I think it's very fair to treat all 'spammers' as criminals, provided that what they're sending qualifies as Spam and not acceptable information you might be interested in, or might have given consent for.

  95. Who? by ggwfung · · Score: 1

    I still wonder though ... Who eats SPAM?

    I mean, receiving a message from a total unknown, with a scrambled email address, and selling some dream get-rich scheme or fulfilment to life - do people fall for it? Surely life has taught them more.

    As for a solution, I read somewhere that SPAM could possibly account for one half of all internet traffic. If this figure is anywhere near accurate, then charging for data flow is one answer.

  96. Nieve Spammers by Felinoid · · Score: 1

    It has long been my opinion that anyone who is doing wrong is in some ways nieve. It is my opinion that the statement "ignorence is bliss" is the most evil 3 words ever spoken.

    As a security guard by night and a flea marketter by day I've heard some of the most unbeleavable nonsense however most of the time the would be theaf actually believes it was ok.

    This extends to spam. Spammers actually believe what they are doing is a valuable service. They think they are protecting themselfs from a rare few people who don't understand how business actually works.

    Where would they get such an idea?
    Maybe becouse such people do exist and actually harrass businesses with some really stupid ideas of how things "should" be.

    Example: A business is closed and the boss is trying to leave. A costummer lays is wait for the gates to open. He blazes in nearly running me (the guard) over just so he can get inside.
    Once there the boss tells him to leave and he breaks out screaming and yelling about how things should be. "People should be nicer".

    Then in industrys there are "rules" everyone folows but nobody knows why or even where the rules came from.

    Example: Closed source software drivers and no tech specs. The fear is that someone could use that to create a cheap knock off.
    Sounds like the the kind of thing Microsoft says about open source.
    "Keep your source code secret and nobody can figure out how your hardware/software works"

    Decompilers, Chip specs, port scans, packet sniffing, lab testing, Random throw, bad luck, software being obveous and creative thinking. Need I say more?

    In short we think they are just being greedy but it's more than that they actually don't know better and never actually bothered to learn net culture.
    They learn the technology and figure thats all there is to the Internet.

    --
    I don't actually exist.
    1. Re:Nieve Spammers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to belittle the parent poster, but I TRUELY believe that slashdot should put some sort of spell-check in place.

  97. Re:You hypocrites by cyberwave · · Score: 1

    "It's not hypocrisy when you're doing X solely to the guys who do X to make them realize X is wrong." ---- It's not hypocrisy when you're [killing people] to the guys who [kill people] to make them realize [killing people] is wrong?

  98. He's not naive at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The comment "never intended to break any regulation" is a sly jab at his persecutors. He's trying to insinuate that because he hasn't broken any laws, he doesn't deserve this treatment, and it's his enemies who are being unreasonable.

    Whether he really believes this or not, we can only speculate.

    I find this the most hopeful spam story I've seen in years. The fact that it's possible, even without laws, to actually hound a spammer out of business - is inspiring. Maximum kudos to our Kiwi brethren, or whoever else was responsible.

  99. You are a spamming git by afroborg · · Score: 1

    I worked briefly as a spammer,
    Then you are a social parasite. People like you should be subjected to public harassment, the more painful the better.
    I vote that the coliseum concept should be reinstated into the justice system - Tonight's main attraction... Spammers vs Lions!

    First, it's not illegal to send unsolicited emails. Second, it's not illegal to use passive defensive measures to block said spam.
    But why should we have to? Lots of things aren't illegal, but they piss people off.

    ...but then lost my income as a result of an anti-spam hacker with a chip on his shoulder.
    I can hear the violins... It's such a sad story - the guy who pissed everybody off lost his irritating source of income... If I had my way you'd lose more than that. I'd ban all spammers from using the internet at all, and enforce it by removing all their fingers with a blunt axe. I hope you and all your amoral spamming kind rot in hell.

    There's no use for vigilantes on the internet.
    But there is assumedly a use for spammers?

    You are a git.

    --
    my sig could kick your sig's arse...
  100. Natalie Portman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Works much better than any pill. These hucksters should be tarred and feathered then run out of town.

    Seriously though, most countries insist that you have a driving license and if you are caught driving without a license you usually feel the full weight of the law. If we drive in an irresponsible manner we have our licenses taken away and for good reason. What we need is some kind of electronic licensing system on the internet, to ensure a culture of mutual respect.

    The anger of millions on the 'net needs to be focused on a cure for the obvious evil that is spam. This anger needs to be focused in the schools, in governments, in public consciousness. Spam is part of the nightmare that Huxley and Orwell glimpsed fifty odd years ago. It is a nightmare because it is indicative of a shallow and venal lack of respect for other people by some people. The perpetrators of this anti-social behaviour should be tracked down and punished in just the same way as any other anti-social behaviour is punished

    In a way emails are the most poignant part of the internet, human beings have exchanged letters for thousands of years. OK websites are fun, blogs are fun but neither are as personal - and in a sense - as intimate as an email. As big brother gets tooled up with ever more clever technology to invade our space, the privacy of that space becomes more important. This is a matter of rights, not technology.

  101. Illegal Complaints by lordrich · · Score: 1

    For everybody to start phoning spammers up would be a distributed denial of service attack, and would therefore be illegal would it not?
    I know I got threatened big time by my ISP when I started posting spammer's phone numbers out.

    1. Re:Illegal Complaints by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would change to another ISP immediately... banning someone for free speech is really fucked.

  102. Good morning, Mr. Atkinson. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My name is Vlad Tepes, and you sent me some herbal Viagra spam. I've got a sharpened stake with your name on it, and I've chartered a non-stop flight from Transylvania. Commend your soul to your god.

  103. We expose children to the Christian Bible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If *that* shit doesn't warp their fragile little minds, nothing will.

  104. You mean..... by Greenmonkey2021 · · Score: 1

    The penis-enlarging pills were SPAM? You mean they don't work. I guess I should stop taking .... I mean ...um ...I've uh never taken penis-enlarging pills.....

    --
    Green Monkey san
  105. Educate us. by iamweezman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While some can read an email header and track down the spammer, most can't. If more education was given on how to track down spammers, more of us angry people would take this matter into our own hands. Teach the people and let the mobs regulate. It seems to work.

    1. Re:Educate us. by peacegoddss · · Score: 1

      Here! Here! Let us at them! Scummy spammers

    2. Re:Educate us. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes, please. I would love to know how to nail them.

    3. Re:Educate us. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Good idea, educating the public about how to track down spammers themselves. Having worked as a PI for a couple of years, and as a reporter, I can physically track down nearly anyone. But I'm clueless trying to identify and locate these spammers. A good thing, too, since my inclination would be to alter their lives in unspeakably nasty ways.

      I did trouble myself to determine that, no matter how Web-savvy you are, it is usually impossible to find out "who" sent you that virus.

      I clicked on a penis-enlargement link yesterday to see whether going through the order process would help me to identify the seller. No luck. It takes a valid credit-card number just to get beyond the order page, and I doubt that spending $400 for the pills would have given me anything more than a drop-ship address with a fictitiously named client.

      -- Rick Ackerman

    4. Re:Educate us. by DarkHelmet433 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Argh, for goodness' sake, dont click on embedded links unless you've read the raw email source. A good deal of the links have embedded addresses that encoded your email address identity. By clicking on a link, you've probably disclosed to a spammer that you're a responsive email address interested in penis enlargement. Expect more spam. :(

      For example, if the link looks like this in the html source: http://spammer.com/response.cgi?id=123456678 then you can bet that they have a web server that logs the id and they match "12345678" back to your email address.

      Likewise, many spams have 'bugs' in them where the recipient id is encoded in a http url somewhere so that they can see who is reading the emails. If you have an email client that shows you a preview, it is quite likely identifying you to the spammers as a valid email address. You do not even need to read these if your client (eg: outlook and its ilk) has got preview mode on.

      eg: <img src="http://spammer.com/image.gif?id=12345678"> and so on. These are often 1x1 pixel transparent images so you cant see it, but your mail client will happily fetch it for you and put your id into their web server logs for identifying your email address as 'working'.

      If you can, tell it to turn off images in emails. And investigate something like the mimedefang type scrubbers that remove web bugs and and javascript etc from email.

      Mind you, if you use outlook you're already in the line of fire.

    5. Re:Educate us. by minas-beede · · Score: 1

      Why take such a feeble path? You can, on your own computer, go after spammers in a big way - one that works and can produce massive results.

      If you run Windows you can use Jackpot, which turns your system into an open relay honeypot.

      http://jackpot.uk.net

      If you run Linux you can run the Bubblegum Proxypot, which turns your systme into an open proxy honeypot.

      http://world.std.com/~pacman/proxypot.html

      What these will tell you is the IP from which spammer abuse comes - that's very often the spammer's own IP (the spam itself would come from a hijacked system such as you are pretending to be run. You have far greater power if you detect and report the spammer activity than if you report just spam.

      Go to news.admin.net-abuse.email (use Google Groups if you must) and find any of the posts with the subject "Who's Spamming You? [date] ..."

      These are lists of the top spammer IPs detected using a colleciton of open proxy honeypots.

      IF you do this the odds are very high that you will detect spammer activity and will trap spam. If you report the activity to the ISP, pointing out that it is abuse (theft of service) there's a very good chance that action will be taken against the spammer. If you don't see good results for your reports make a posting in that newsgroup about them - you may get some assistance in making your evidence work to stop the spammer.

      Note that many spammers do send spam to open relays through open proxies. In that cae your report might only serve to get an open proxy secured. It can't hurt to suggest to the ISP, when you make your report, that a devastating way to secure an open proxy is to turn it into an open proxy honeypot. If you think about it you'll also realize how this kind of conversion can start to put fear in the hearts of the spammers.

      If you still just want to learn to read spam headers then the main point is to read them backwards and to realize that the first header you reach starting from the top which shows receipt of the email by your ISP may be the last one that is true. Spammers do forge headers - anyting earlier than that one could be a fake.

  106. They all don't actually know they're spammers... by kosamae · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Spammers aren't all evil malicious people, some of them just have no idea what they're doing. Like a guy I know, who is not the most net savvy person in the world, but can get around, was working on some kind of upstart e-business, so he figured he'd get this traffic building software, which basically was just a spamming utility, that would send a promotional email to thousands of email addresses which were stored on a couple CDs.
    The manual claimed that all of the people had signed up as being interested in recieving information about business oppurtunites, but I doubt that even 5% had any desire at all to hear about "business oppurtunities." My friend didn't have any idea that what he was doing was "spam" ("I'm not selling any of that canned ham stuff."), and that he was becoming the bane of the internet, he just thought it was a legitamit way to advertise.
    I'm not saying that all spammers are like that, I know that some of them are pure evil, but some people just don't understand...
    (putting on flame-retardent suit)

  107. Negative feedback? by ZekeG4 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What i found most interesting was:

    "Mr Atkinson has decided to get out of the spamming business, citing the "negative feedback"".

    It's SPAM!!! When has there been positive feedback?! Has he ever stepped outside and asked someone what they thought about spam? Give me a break. The only thing missing was a "I didn't know people didn't like it" comment. Finaly a way to fight spam has been found!

  108. yeah, right by sootman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...had me wondering if he and other spammers are as really naive as the article makes out.

    No fscking way. I'll believe they weren't aware of anything as they forged headers and return addresses while looking for open relays, changing ISPs every 10 minutes, and paying ISPs 3x the going rate to look the other way for 24 hours as soon as someone believes that I didn't really mean to rob a bank, I just found a gun, happened to wave it around, didn't notice the teller giving me $600k in cash, and didn't realize that I was driving that fast and that all those lights and sirens were for me--I just figured they wanted someone else.

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  109. the first stone by MegaFur · · Score: 1

    So what are YOU doing about the hungry and AIDs cases? Just Boo-hooing, or just trying to shift the blame to people that complain about "executives and companies worth millions of dollars"? Or are you actually pulling money out of your OWN pocket to buy food and drugs for these people? If the Whinners of the world put THEIR money where their mouths are, instead of bitching about other people that are also bitching then a lot of these problems would be lessened if not solved. Of course that assumes that the hungry and sick are a real concern, and not just an excuse to attack people that attack those who have more money.

    So what am I doing about the hungry and AIDS cases and etc? Well, admittedly no too damn much. But at least I'm honest about it, and I don't waste a bunch of time attacking people that are attacking other people. Oh wait I just did. Oh well. Nevermind.

    Let he who is not guilty cast the first stone.

    --
    Furry cows moo and decompress.
    1. Re:the first stone by thales · · Score: 1

      1) The company I work for, and am a minority partner in donates 5% of it's profits to causes like the ones I mentioned. That means a 5% reduction in my share of the profits.

      2) I Also donate out of my own income, most recently to this group. http://www.opportunity.org/international.html

      --
      Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est
    2. Re:the first stone by heybo · · Score: 1

      What does giving money to the poor have to do with spam and spammers????? If we didn't have spammers my company could donate MORE money to causes. Even the cause of helping the poor close to me (Like me!) I may own a business, but like most the rich have their hands in my pockets so bad. I live off of dried beans and rice! My thought on the poor spammer... HE GOT WHAT HE DESIRVES> His poor child??? Yes what about all the children LIKE MY OWN getting his penis enlargments spam!!! Their was less crime in the Wild West of America than there is today. Why?? Actions like this against bad people by the common folks. Whatever it takes we need to get rid of spam. Maybe a hanging would be nice..... I got the rope.

  110. Is he really going to stop? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh come on, do you think he's really going to stop? If tons of people knew who you were and started complaining, don't you think the easiest thing to do is claim that you've stopped so peopel stop harrassing you, but then just find another server somewhere else and keep going?

  111. Re:People are quick to cry wolf. WTF??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF???

    The term 'spammer' is as accusatory, and often as false, as 'criminal'. You might think all criminals are bad, but what about the 'criminal' who said something bad
    about the government and got arrested for it? Likewise, not all 'spammers' are inherently evil scum sending porno ads to your TV-addicted drooling children.


    Boo frigging hoo! All spammers...and I mean ALL SPAMMERS are lying, gutless criminals. If they're not breaking the law by sending emails, then they're breaking it by circumventing security mechanisms. They're breaking it selling phoney products. They're breaking it by selling credit card numbers to organized criminals. They're breaking it by providing cover to electronic criminals and terrorists. They're breaking it by committing general fraud in their emails. They're breaking it by violating laws that protect children from being the victims of pornography and porn rings.

    ALL SPAMMERS ARE CRIMINALS!!! It's just that the specific crimes they've committed aren't always obvious from the emails they send.

    You, sir, are obviously a troll who needs a healthy dose of reality and facts. I have it in the form of 23,000 spams I've saved since 1995...and that's a tiny fraction of what I've actually received.

    So don't sit there and defend spammers when they threaten my business, my children, my family, my friends, my community and my nation with their nonsense. You sicken me to my very core.

  112. Re:You hypocrites by kaltkalt · · Score: 1

    "Killing people" isn't something "to the guys who..." Killing them may work. We do it here in texas all the time.

    --

    Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
  113. Re:You hypocrites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nope, not hypocrisy, it's teaching through attrition.

    The point here is that if someone is so outrageously stupid that they can't understand [killing people] is wrong, then they fully deserve to experience it firsthand because there's no other way for them to learn.

  114. Re:You hypocrites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you are a fucking idiot.

  115. This is sad... by evilviper · · Score: 1
    shut his business after his personal details were posted on the web.
    made him worry about the safety of his children.
    His personal information, street address and phone numbers were "plastered all over the web",
    "I have already banned my 5-year-old from answering the phone," he said.
    [...] forcing him to move [...]

    You know, it's really, really disturbing that the experiences of a spamer are almost identical to that of a doctor that performs abortions.

    I'm not really sure what that says about spamers, abortions, or society... I can just tell that there is something incredible WRONG about it all. This is definately going to linger in my mind for some time.
    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  116. Re:You hypocrites by zakezuke · · Score: 1

    What, you didn't get endless phone calls from telemarketers asking you if you need vinyl windows, home secirty, the newspaper, the voice of god, and a demonstration of a vacume?

    Man you got it easy. I'd trade telemarketing for death threats anyway.

    --
    There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  117. some drive on the left by wadiwood · · Score: 1

    and just to make it exciting some drive wherever the hell they feel like especially on the road between Wellington and Parapara'm'. And yes lots of people were getting killed but not necessarily the ones who deserved it. In just two weeks while I was there, 8 people died. I was very dedicated to the train after the first weekend, even though I knew that had fallen off the side of the mountain one time.

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
  118. Re:They all don't actually know they're spammers.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    your friend may have been ignorant. but he is still a spammer. er was a spammer

  119. "Right" to sling some product? by diggitzz · · Score: 1

    I think the philosophy of many advertisers seems to be that they have some kind of "right" to bombard the public with ads, regardless of privacy laws and the like. Lawmakers seem to agree. Even worse, I once heard my brother seriously remark "but if there weren't ads all over the place, how would I find out about all the great products out there?!"

    There seems to be a (creepy) growing consensus among the brainwashed portion of the general public that businesses have some kind of "right to stay in business", regardless of how crappy their product is, so we just have to put up with advertisers filling our mailboxes with crap, calling our homes, sending us email, etc.

    Kind of like the MPAA and RIAA claiming that their declining sales are a result of just about anything but the declining quality of the "art" they sling.

    I don't think much will ever be done to correct this problem until we bring it to the table that there's no such thing as a "right to sell complete shit and bother people about it", even in free-market America.

    --
    -=[You cannot consistently judge this statement to be true.]=-
  120. To stoop or not to stoop? by javamutt · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Although I have always been disgusted by the spamming practice, I have always maintained that it wasn't right to stoop to their level. Same reason I don't set up attack-back features on firewalls. Public psting of his ID isn't the same as a campeign to flood his email or intigate DoS on his boxes, but it's a subtle temptation.

    Oddly, this article might have me switching sides... Given all of the animosity directed towards spammers I find it amazing that the number of phone calls this guy mentioned was *20*. I would have though we'd be seeing 200+. I'm no one to pass judgement, but 20 calls sure seems a small price to pay for his contribution to Internet pollution. And it is implied that he is stopping now, which seems to increase the merit of this response / pay back.

    The cynic in me still wonders if he made those claims to the media in order to decrease his harassment levels while he finds a new prvider. Seems like the shady types always have a plan "B" and this kind of thing is like playing whack-a-mole. Does anyne else really buy-in to him ending his games?

  121. I rtfa'd by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 1
    Even if there is no law requiring one to be taken off the list, you can still be removed from that caller's list.


    Me thinks that your sarcasm detector is broken.

  122. Contact Info by Nept · · Score: 1

    Taken from news.admin.net-abuse.email, subj: [MEDIA]: make penis fast spammer operating out of New Zealand, posted: 8/14/03

    Quote:
    The phone number is a NZ Vodafone mobile. Don't bother calling it to run his bill up, NZ mobiles don't work that way

    There's a ChCh phone number, 03 323 6484 that he mentions on his
    mobile phone voice mail message.

    http://www.whitepages.co.nz/quick/search?page=se ar ch&listing_type=ALL&ind=5&key=atkinson&loc =CH

    Atkinson Shane
    2 O'Neill Ave Harewood Belfast
    0-3-323 6484

    http://www.wises.co.nz/map/default.asp?id=67524| 2& svctype=1&zoomin=true&move=true

    rxmedicalgroup.com, directNIC.com.

    Registrant:
    SA PUBLISHINGS
    P.O. Box 36289 Merivale
    Christchurch, NZ 8030
    NZ
    064211252557

    Domain Name: RXMEDICALGROUP.COM

    Administrative Contact:
    Atkinson, Shane support@sapublishings.com
    P.O. Box 36289 Merivale
    Christchurch, NZ 8030
    NZ
    064211252557

    Technical Contact:
    Atkinson, Shane support@sapublishings.com
    P.O. Box 36289 Merivale
    Christchurch, NZ 8030
    NZ
    064211252557
    End Quote

    --
    "Teachers leave us kids alone ..." - Roger Waters, Pink Floyd
  123. wrong by alizard · · Score: 1
    A spammer might not take phone calls seriously enough. That's why I'd prefer to a put a horse's head in his bed.

    At which point the bed would contain an entire horse.

    No, just the head and ass, no middle. Not all that viable but who cares?

  124. That's an idea by Lurks · · Score: 1
    What's to stop you using GoogleAPI and driving it intelligently to filter out the linkfarms and the super lame 'review' sites like Dealtime and Kelkoo etc which polute search results too?

    Cleangoogle.com - has to be a goer.

  125. yes,some spammers really do this by mistake by alizard · · Score: 1
    However, I have seen a couple of occasions where a SPAM has been followed a couple of days later by an apology, where it truly does appear that someone has had a break-through experience and now understands that SPAM is a bad idea, where they truly did not understand that previously.

    Usually, this is spam they're sending using their real e-mail addresses from their own domain names, often with real addresses in the spam itself, and they are selling real products and services of some sort.

    I may have seen as many as a dozen or so since I got onto the Net in late 1991.

    In those rare cases, you explain to them politely that they did a bad thing and why it's a bad thing, and they'll apologize and stop.

    If they respond with one of the well-known spammer rationalizations, have fun and use your imagination to come up with an appropriate response.

  126. he got off VERY lightly by alizard · · Score: 1
    Well, it worked for the moment, though I'm not the only one who suspects the guy is looking for another ISP right now and getting ready to start shoveling more crap at us. I keep wondering when some spammer is going to get publically outed complete with real name and home address, and somebody who's pissed off who feels he has nothing at all to lose will do something permanent to the guy in a very public way.

    We can hope at this point that some public spirited citizen will put together a legal defense fund for the person who . . . reasoned with the spammer.

  127. His email address? by stuartkahler · · Score: 1

    Anyone know what his email address is? I get several spams a day to an address at my domain that they made up (mortgageshoppers@...). I currently autoforward them to uce@ftc.gov. Autosending a copy to a spammer would be additional satisfaction.

  128. jail by dmitri2060 · · Score: 1

    send spammers to jail. they are worse than crackers.

  129. Re:Artificial Stupidity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hi, I'm Clippy. It looks like you're trying to write a letter...

  130. Re:Artificial Stupidity by Wilk4 · · Score: 1

    hmm, good point, perhaps I'm wrong... MS has tremendous talents in the area of writing dumb software... they might succeed in out-dumbing us.

  131. ANI at Wikipedia by goldfndr · · Score: 1
    --
    Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks: temporary loans from the Public Domain, not real property ("intellectual" or otherwise)
  132. Other spammers' names and addresses by khrtt · · Score: 1

    How did the journalist go about finding out the spammers identity? I would like to know :-)

    Wouldn't it be fun to have a web page listing spammers names and phone numbers? My personal spam inflow has gone from 30+ a day to 1-2 since the slashdot article, which is a factor of 15 at least. I suppose, it means that hitting just one more spammer with 20 phone calls would bring that down to 1 spam per week, right? That would almost be acceptable!!