Slashdot Mirror
Four Big ISPs File Six Anti-Spam Suits
ackthpt writes "Wired is carrying news that Microsoft, America Online, Earthlink and Yahoo are filing suits against spammers under the CANSPAM act. They will 'follow the money' to find the perpetrators and shut them down. Suits currently filed against John Does will have actual names attached once subpoenas get the names of the actual persons. I wish them all the luck, as I clean about 500 pieces of drek a day from my mailboxes." Other readers point to coverage from the BBC and from the Associated Press (here's the AP story as carried by the Boston Globe).
I wonder what effect this will have on the number of spam messages we get daily?
I bet it will have an effect, but more than likely the long-term effect will simply be to move even more of the spam off-shore.
I'd like to bring up what I think is an interesting point here.
How does this type of announcement (and others like it) affect our role in this struggle? What can we do to make their efforts more fruitful?
I know people who in the past took it upon themselves to trace certain spammers and send an email with relevant data to the host mail provider (lets say, Yahoo for instance) in an effort to perhaps provoke some response.
My question is: does this work? Is it effective? Or will the spammer just as easily switch addresses? If so, was it worth it to give them that kind of trouble or are we simply wasting our time?
If, after this discussion, we determine that it is a worthy method of helping, how would you go about doing it? What type of advice would you give to people who would like to take action once in a while?
Obviously I can't take action against every piece of spam that hits my mailbox. However, there are certain, shall we say...habitual offenders. Looking at my hotmail account over these past few years (I use my optonline account for serious mail) its fairly easy to figure out that a large bulk of those emails are coming from a common source.
Anyway, I'd really appreciate some input - including technical details.
Six spammers is probably a drop in the desert, and shutting them down won't cause a noticable impact, but at least it's a start.
Do you think it's at least as good as doing nothing? Set some examples, drag some faces before the cameras, tell how their houses on Minnow Pond Drive have been seized, things like that. I've got no sympathy. I do hope they really nail the right people. I wish I could bill Alan Ralsky for all the time I've wasted deleting his deluge.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
These spammers are being sued for damages to the ISPs? Why can't they include their customers in the law suit? We're the ones supporting every dollar they earn, and we suffer plenty because of spammers. The ISPs are footing the bill for the lawsuit, sure, but it'd be nice if we got a coupon or something.
I think this news opens up a great opportunity for Slashdot readers and Sys Admins in general. This would be a great time to be able to put questions to them such as:
1. What are you doing to track down spammes.2. What can we do to assist? Is there some type of site, or address we can send information to assist in tracking down offenders.
Lets get an interview.
Just my thoughts.
Huh?