Paid To Spam

Lathiat writes "It seems that spammers have taken a new distributed approach to sending spam, and you get paid for it. Virtual MDA will pay you $1 per CPU hour their program is running to relay spam around the world. Obviously this is not something you should do, most users are all to familiar with the atrocity of sorting through up to hundreds of spams a day just to find one real email, Although it has been previously reported that some users love spam, I for one don't. Is there any way end users can fight back against people like this?" At $1/hour, this sounds like a low-gain way to infuriate both your friends and perfect strangers.

Comments

Timmy the Wet Blanket

[Mr. Darl McBride]

Just try getting through to a human when you tell most ISPs that you want to close your account. Hell, they've written articles about what happens when you try with AOL and MSN.

So keep your editorializing to yourself, Timothy. If I can finally get that ISP account closed AND earn $2-3 in the time it takes my ISP to sort through the hundreds of complaints against me and kill my login, then I'm all for it.

If you're really so high-and-mighty against this, sign up to sell those "CPU hours" the site says they wayt, and iptables -I OUTPUT 1 -j DROP -p tcp -s 0.0.0.0/0 -d 0.0.0.0/0 --dport 25, tough guy. You can bet that you'll never see a dime. Of course they're going to insist that they only send a check once you reach $100 or some number like that. And how many ISPs will tolerate four days of spam complaints? Hint: None of them are in the USA. And if you're not in the USA, ask around and see who's heard of an "international small claims court."

Yes, it is true, some users LOVE spam

[Anonymous Coward]

Some users love Spam, and some taxpayers actually vote Democrat Party.

Q: MAGIC 8 BALL, WILL I GET AN FP?

[Anonymous Coward]

A: ALL SIGNS POINT TO FROSTY

I AM HOWARD DEAN AND I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE. I GIVE IT 2 YARS UP.

*_d_e_a_n_s_e_x_*_d_e_a_n_s_e_x_*_d_e_a_n_s_e_x_*_
d_______________________________________________d_ _
e_/_____\_____________\____________/____\_______e_ _
a|_______|_____________\__________|______|______a_ _
n|_______`._____________|_________|_______:_____n_ _
s`________|_____________|________\|_______|_____s_ _
e_\_______|_/_______/__\\\___--___\\_______:____e_ _
x__\______\/____--~~__________~--__|_\_____|____x_ _
*___\______\_-~____________________~-_\____|____*_ _
d____\______\_________.--------.______\|___|____d_ _
e______\_____\______//_________(_(__>__\___|____e_ _
a_______\___.__C____)_________(_(____>__|__/____a_ _
n_______/\_|___C_____)/YAARRR\_(_____>__|_/_____n_ _
s______/_/\|___C_____)RRRRRRR|__(___>___/__\____s_ _
e_____|___(____C_____)\RRRGGH/__//__/_/_____\___e_ _
x_____|____\__|_____\\_________//_(__/_______|__x_ _
*____|_\____\____)___`----___--'_____________|__*_ _
d____|__\______________\_______/____________/_|_d_ _
e___|______________/____|_____|__\____________|_e_ _
a___|_____________|____/_______\__\___________|_a_ _
n___|__________/_/____|_________|__\___________|n_ _
s___|_________/_/______\__/\___/____|__________|s_ _
e__|_________/_/________|____|_______|_________|e_ _
x__|__________|_________|____|_______|_________|x_ _
*_d_e_a_n_s_e_x_*_d_e_a_n_s_e_x_*_d_e_a_n_s_e_x_*_

Impotent Stuff: Please try to to avoid looking like a complete buffoon and ignoramous to the entire country you jackass. Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account.

Impotent Stuff: Please try to keep campaign on topic. Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account.

Impotent Stuff: Please try to keep posts on topic. Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account.

Lighten up

[Mr. Darl McBride]

Just try getting through to a human when you tell most ISPs that you want to close your account. Hell, they've written articles about what happens when you try with AOL and MSN.

So keep your editorializing to yourself, Timothy. If I can finally get that ISP account closed AND earn $2-3 in the time it takes my ISP to sort through the hundreds of complaints against me and kill my login, then I'm all for it.

If you're really so high-and-mighty against this, or just want to keep your account with your ISP, sign up to sell those "CPU hours" the site says they want, and then iptables -I OUTPUT 1 -j DROP -p tcp -s 0.0.0.0/0 -d 0.0.0.0/0 --dport 25 since there's no rule against it, tough guy.

Re:ISPs

[Anonymous Coward]

u can spoof ur ip like u would on IRC and ne1 trying to catch u would get sum1 else

Send Spam or Stop Sending Our Jobs to India

[rascanban]

I used to work for a professional spam agency, sending out over 25 million messages a day. I would have liked not to have sold my soul to the Spam Demons, but when all our jobs are going overseas and there are no alternatives, what would you have us do? Go on welfare? Let our families starve? Aye, I agree - Spam is a nuisance, but that is all it is. A simple program (TMDA, a slew of others) or even simple .procmailrc files can save you hours of time. Even a healthy finger on the DELETE key is available free of charge. I'm not saying this is a the way to make a living (at $1 per CPU hour) but the overall concept works, because people spend money on products advertised through SPAM. No buyers, no Spammers. So, riddle me this: Spamming for a living or living in a cardboard box?