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Is the CAN-SPAM Act Working?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-highly-doubt-it dept.

DynaSoar writes "Lance Ulanoff of PCMag.com offer his opinion on the success, or lack thereof, of the CAN-SPAM Act. It doesn't appear to be working, though spammers have noticed, in that they try to make their spam look "legit". What might make a real difference, according to US Senator Conrad Burns, co-author of the bill, is international standards and enforcement."

4 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. CAN-SPAM Death Penalty? by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is law, and then there is enforcement. I'm sure there is still a no-jaywalking law in New York City. Does anyone care? No, because there is no penalty. When some spammer does Kevin Mitnick-style time for his crime, the law will mean something.

    Why would I buy Viagra from someone who can't spell it?

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
  2. Yahoo's Spamguard by Beg4Mercy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yahoo has been doing a fantastic job of filtering spam. Of the hundreds (a thousand?) spam messages I get each week, only a handful make it to my inbox. The rest get put in the bulk mail folder. However, without their excellent filtering, email would be unusable.

  3. You'll never learn. by Stumbles · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Why anyone thinks a law against spam will some how slow it down, or for that matter have any effect is using their backside (the one you wipe) to think with.

    Until the spammers money flow is cut off no amount of laws making it illegal will have any effect. What should be happening and I find this RARELY addressed is holding the businesses that spam links to responsible.

    Passing laws like that is nothing but a show folks. Put on by our inept governmental leaders (that's a stretch of terms) to say they are working on the issue. Until those businesses that use spam to sell their products are held accountable my tax dollars (once again) are being pissed down the toilet.

    --
    My karma is not a Chameleon.
  4. Re:What will work... by kfg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In what way is this different than the current situation?

    What sort of legislation would increase your ability or right to block or filter?

    What "power" are you thinking of? Do you have to be born on Krypton to get it?

    Do you suggest legislating the structure of the internet? How would you go about doing that and enforcing it? If it can be done by altering the structure of the internet what is the need of legislation?

    Yes, I too am sick of paying for it, seeing it, filtering it, having it clog up the whole bloody net, etc.

    The spammer's "power" is no different than my own though. The power to use email. The primary difference is that I'm not an asshole.

    If one could legislate away assholes, hey, I'd be the first to endorse it. The instant the bill passed there would be a loud sort of "Whoooooph!" inside the Capitol Building, followed closely by the implosion of the dome as a result of the sudden low pressure inside.

    Suppose you were an idiot. Suppose you were a member of Congress? But I repeat myself. --Mark Twain

    KFG

    KFG